The top tier of Ayad Allawi’s secular Iraqiya slate met with Saudi leadership in Riyadh today, including King Abdullah (pictured above with the former PM) to discuss Iran’s meddlesome role in Iraq’s domestic affairs.
Haidar al-Mullah, a spokesman for Allawi’s Iraqiya party, told reporters that former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi met with key players in Saudi Arabia over the weekend to discuss the matter.
Riyadh is understandably nervous about the prospect of Maliki retaining his office. The incumbent, and current caretaker PM, has cultivated close ties to Saudis’ rivals in Tehran. Sadr recently voiced his support for al-Maliki afteryears of self-imposed exile in Iran, where the scion of Iraq’s prominent Shi’a family was said to be pursuing his religious studies.
Iraqiya won the March 7 election in Iraq by two seats but fell well short of the 163-seat majority needed to form a ruling government. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, is within sight of the coveted majority following support from his former rivals in the political party loyal to firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
For its part, the Obama administration’s has suggested it may have problems dealing with an Iraqi government that includes ministries led by Sadrists. Buried in a recent article, the New York Times noted:
The administration has sought and received assurances that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki will not offer the followers of the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr positions in charge of Iraq’s security forces in exchange for supporting Mr. Maliki’s bid for a second term in office, according to officials familiar with negotiations now under way.
. . . The Sadrists’ surprising support of Mr. Maliki, only weeks after opposing his nomination, raised alarms in Washington and gave new urgency to the efforts to persuade Mr. Maliki to include the country’s other main factions in a new government.
It’s anyone’s guess whether al-Maliki will respect these wishes, but if one considers the fact that U.S. presence is on the wane, it’s it would be dangerous to assume the PM will suddenly distinguish himself as a reliable partner.
