Baghdad: Ministers from Iraq's Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc ended a cabinet boycott and returned to work yesterday, after a political crisis in December that had triggered sectarian bloodshed and threatened to shatter the country's fragile government.
The move will do little, however, to heal long-standing, deep tensions between Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish political blocs.
As the Opec member country's leaders turn to daily business, including getting a delayed 2012 budget bill through parliament, a national conference is being planned to reconcile rival groups.
"All Iraqiya ministers attended the meeting and the prime minister welcomed their return," cabinet secretary Ali Al Alaq said after a cabinet meeting yesterday.
The crisis began after US troops withdrew in mid-December, when Shiite Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's government moved against two top Sunni officials — seeking the arrest of Vice-President Tarek Al Hashemi and the removal of Deputy Prime Minister Saleh Al Mutlaq.
Iraqiya responded by boycotting parliament and cabinet meetings, and a string of attacks against Shiite targets then prompted fears of a return to the worst levels of sectarian slaughter that broke out after the US-led invasion in 2003.
Number of casualties
More than 450 people have been killed in attacks since the crisis erupted, government figures and a Reuters tally showed, while in January alone, more than double the number of people were killed compared with a year ago.
Iraqiya ended its boycott of parliament last week, bringing the crisis off the boil. Violence on Iraq's streets has ebbed since then. Several of Iraqiya's eight ministers, however, had refused to go back to work until yesterday.
The finance, science and education ministers had continued their boycott to demand Mutlaq's return. Mutlaq complained publicly of Al Maliki's concentration of power, likening him to a dictator.
