Allawi warns of sectarian war

MARTIN CHULOV
The Sydney Morning Herald
May 11, 2010

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

BAGHDAD: Iyad Allawi, the former prime minister who scored a surprise win in the recent general election, has warned that Iraq risks descending into a new sectarian war.

Mr Allawi said that since the bitterly contested election on March 7, in which his Iraqiya party list won 91 seats, political groups had abandoned efforts to build a united government and were regressing into sectarianism, encouraged by Iran.

Mr Allawi, who led the country for nine turbulent months in 2004 as a US-appointed transitional prime minister, warned that unless the US and its allies safeguarded Iraq’s nascent democracy, renewed conflict could spread around the region. ”This conflict will not remain within the borders of Iraq,” he said. ”It will spill over and it has the potential to reach the world at large, not just neighbouring countries.

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This article was posted: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 2:19 pm

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