BAGHDAD – Sunni leaders in Iraq accused Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki of a crackdown Friday after troops detained a Sunni minister's bodyguards, triggering protests in one province and threatening to reignite a crisis a year after US troops left. The incident with the finance minister's staff came hours after President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who has mediated among Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish factions, left for Germany following a stroke that may end his steadying influence over politics. Talabani's absence and renewed political tensions are placing pressure on the OPEC producer's fragile power-sharing government, which is split among sects and ethnic Kurds and has stumbled from crisis to crisis since US soldiers withdrew in December 2011. Growing political tension in Baghdad is also exacerbating a growing rift between the Arab-led central government and the country's autonomous Kurdistan enclave in the north over the control of oil fields and land. After Friday prayers, several thousand demonstrators took to the streets in the Sunni stronghold of Anbar, blocking a highway in Falluja, demanding Maliki's resignation, and waving banners reading: “Resistance is still in our veins”. The protest was peaceful. Angry Sunni leaders warned they might withdraw from government if they cannot participate in an investigation into the detentions and called for a vote of no confidence in Maliki, whom they accuse of abusing his power to sideline electoral rivals. “My message to the prime minister is that you are a man who does not believe in partnership and does not respect the law and the constitution,” Finance Minister Rafaie Esawi said. “You want me to believe Maliki had no idea about this? No, this happened with previous planning and intent.” Politicians and the authorities gave conflicting accounts of the incident, but said it evoked a similar episode a year ago when Iraq moved to arrest Sunni Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi, accusing him of running death squads just as US troops packed up. Esawi said more than 100 bodyguards and staff had been illegally snatched by militias, and blamed Maliki. But the premier's office said only six bodyguards had been arrested and that the warrants had been issued under counter-terrorism laws. A US embassy spokesman said: “Any actions from any party that subverts the rule of law or provokes ethnic or sectarian tension risks undermining the significant progress Iraq has made toward peace and stability.” Ali Al-Moussawi, Maliki's media advisor, said the judiciary had issued arrest warrants for the minister's bodyguards and accused rival politicians of trying to stir tensions by linking the case to the premier. “The law and judiciary for them have no value, they see only political differences,” Moussawi said. “They blame Maliki for everything.” – Reuters
