Sunnis End Boycott of the Iraqi Parliament, but a Political Crisis Remains

[alp227]

In the first sign that Iraq’s leaders may yet halt a sectarian political crisis that has raised fears of civil war, Iraq’s Sunni leaders said Sunday that they would end their boycott of Parliament.

The Iraqiya coalition, a largely Sunni-backed group of lawmakers that won the most seats in the 2010 parliamentary elections but was unable to build a governing coalition, will return to Parliament, a spokeswoman said in a brief statement.

The move does not signal the end of Iraq’s political crisis, which erupted days after the withdrawal of the American military last month, when Iraqiya announced its boycott to protest what it saw as moves by the Shiite-dominated government to sideline Sunnis from power. Those underlying issues have not been resolved.

But the group’s decision eases tensions and paves the way for the political leadership to hold a national summit meeting to discuss reconciliation among Iraq’s three main ethnic factions — Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/30/world/middleeast/sunnis-end-boycott-of-iraqi-parliament.html

[jody]

1. Sunni–Shia split began when Muhammad died 632, leading to a dispute over who succeeded Muhammad .

Over 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide (22% of world's population), Sunni 75–90% and Shia 10–20%.

IMO its unlikely they can live in harmony any time soon which doesn't surprise me because Democrats and Republicans can't do that in the world's longest running experiment in democracy.