I was pleased to see at Davos my friend Massoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, as his name was not included in the program of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. I asked the leader of Iraqi Kurds about the political situation and the tension with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, and he was frank and said that confidence must be withdrawn from the current government and a new government must be formed in its stead, or at least a cabinet reshuffle must be carried out, because the current situation cannot continue with Maliki's attempt to monopolize power. I understood that Massoud wanted the constitution to reduce the powers of the prime minister, and said that he intended, when he returns to Iraq, to initiate talks with the participation of a national coalition to change the government in Baghdad. The Iraqi parliament responded positively to brother Massoud even before he returned, and issued a law banning Maliki from seeking a third term in office, as it limits the tenures of president, prime minister and speaker to two terms only. The Kurdish leader said that there is a dialogue underway with Turkey, and an initiative to improve relations between Turkey's Kurds and the government in Ankara. I heard many Kurds say that the murder of the three Kurdish activists in Paris on January 9, 2013 was an attempt to thwart efforts for accord between Turkey's Kurds and the Turkish government. Massoud Barzani estimates that about 200 thousand refugees are present in northern Iraq, including 60 thousand Syrians and about 10 thousand Iraqi Christian families who have been displaced from southern Iraq after the attacks on Iraqi Christians. Local authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan are doing everything in their power to assist the refugees, and the economic situation in the region is prosperous despite the political tensions. I asked Brother Massoud about the health of President Jalal Talabani, and he said that the doctors think he may recover, but the prospects for a full recovery are weak. The meeting in Davos gave me a chance to exchange a quick talk about the situation in Libya with Prime Minister Ali Zaidan, after I listened to him speak at a meeting of Arab prime ministers. He told me that foreigners in the Libyan cities live in complete safety, and ruled out that there would be bloodshed again. However, he acknowledged the existence of insurgents and armed groups, but stressed that the security forces are able to confront them, and that the Libyan government is now working to control the borders of Libya, which stretch thousands of kilometers. Prime Minister Ali Zaidan reiterated that there is stability in Libya, and said that the violations take place in remote and difficult to reach locations. He said that it is likely that foreign elements are trying to undermine security in the country, and there was foreign talk about the presence of al-Qaeda and other extremist groups in Syria. However, he said, the security services decided that the numbers are not large enough to be dangerous. By contrast, foreigners in Libya live in safety, and services are available to all. All I say about this is I hope so. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad confirmed to me what I already know about the difficulty of dealing with the Israeli government, attacks by settlers, the persecution of the Palestinians at security checkpoints, and restrictions on their business and movements. I sat down with other Palestinians, some from the Prime Minister's delegation, and others who were business leaders, and they said that there have been attempts to break the deadlock based on contacts with Israelis that can be dealt with. I heard about a new generation of young entrepreneurs, and a huge conflict within Fatah that has excluded the older generation, and have no loyalty to anyone of the latter except Abu Mazen, the President of Palestine. A Palestinian youth in Davos asked: Why has there been no change in the leadership positions? He then nominated Nabeel Kassis or Nabil Shaath for the post of prime minister, and said that Hanan Ashrawi is also up to the task. Fatah members in Davos said that the popularity of Hamas is exaggerated, and insisted that the benchmark should be Fatah's rally in Gaza, which was a Palestinian “million-strong demonstration," arguing that the numbers would have been even bigger if some streets had not been closed. Abu Mazen had also confirmed to me more than once that his party would win in any election held in Gaza. Talk is cheap, and the only way to settle this would be parliamentary elections that we await Fatah and Hamas to agree to hold soon. [email protected]
