Iraqis, battered by a new wave of bombings, are worried their country could relapse into the cataclysmic sectarian bloodletting from which they have only just started to emerge. Some Iraqis, however, are just as worried about the real intentions of their prime minister, Shi'ite Nuri Al-Maliki, in reaching out to fellow Sunnis in a national reconciliation they see vital for their country not to tip back into the raging bloodshed of years past. As the rash of deadly bombings raises fears of resurgent sectarian conflict like that which tore Iraq apart between 2005 and 2007, there is little common ground about how to achieve reconciliation, or on whose terms. Maliki, an increasingly assertive figure as the United States draws down in Iraq, has called repeatedly for an end to the sectarian and ethnic strife unleashed by the 2003 US-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein. But many doubt the willingness of a man who spent years fighting Saddam's Sunni-led regime, which sentenced him to death and massacred fellow members of the Shi'ite Islamist Dawa party. Lieutenant General Raad Hamdani, who now lives in self-exile in Jordan, is one of those sceptical Iraqis. Hamdani, a leader of Saddam's Republican Guard until April 2003, has taken part in talks with the government on how to reach a settlement for former top officers, many who fled Iraq. “Sadly, there is a mistaken idea among those in power in Baghdad, which is that any institution from the past government, including the army, is synonymous with Saddam Hussein,” he said. Security has broadly improved throughout Iraq in the past 18 months, but there was an alarming step up in violence last month, with 290 civilians killed across the country. Several of the attacks, including two days of suicide bombings that killed 150 people, targeted Shi'ite areas or Shi'ite holy sites. Maliki and other officials blame the Baath party and Sunni Al-Qaeda for recent violence. Hamdani complains the government cut off the talks with former officers without meeting a host of demands, like an end to a freeze on high-ranking officers' property. “This shows the government is not really serious about reconciliation,” Hamdani said. Shadow of Baath Party Salim Al-Jubouri, a prominent Sunni member of parliament, believes that Maliki, hoping to capitalize on his success in January's local elections in national polls late this year, does not envision a major role for minority Sunnis in the new Iraq. “This is really about hoarding power for himself,” he said. “All we've seen so far on reconciliation is promises.” The government has opened the door to the return of former members of Saddam's Baath party, banned in Iraq's constitution, but vows to punish any bid to revive it as a political force. The prospect of any opening for the party, though, brings a storm of criticism from Maliki's fellow Shi'ites and minority Kurds, thousands of whom were gassed by Saddam in the 1980s. Many Iraqis ascribe sectarian motives to a delay in enacting a law to bring ex-Baath members back into state jobs after they were fired by the United States in 2003, a fateful move that fuelled a Sunni insurgency and crippling the government. The government blames parliament for holding up enactment of the law; lawmakers point a finger at the government. When it comes to reconciling, Shi'ite lawmaker Faleh Al-Fiyadh said Maliki like others in the rough-and-tumble world of Iraqi politics is concerned first about his own interests. “Each party is trying to steer the process in a certain direction. That is not true reconciliation,” he said. Mohammed Salman, a Maliki advisor, said Maliki's reconciliation plans have no room for personal vendettas. “Our suffering at the hands of the former regime will not become a stumbling block to reconciliation,” he said. Yet broad national reconciliation may be even more difficult as a rift widens between Baghdad and the Kurds, who have condemned Maliki's steps to strengthen central powers and halt their bid to expand their largely autonomous northern region. Militiamen's future key Salman said the government was holding talks with insurgent groups inside and outside Iraq, but declined to say which ones. He said those insurgents, in exchange for laying down arms, might get the same amnesty offer that the Awakening Movement, the largely Sunni militiamen credited with weakening Al-Qaeda. The guards, who sprang up with US backing in 2006, were given at least temporary amnesty for crimes other than murder committed before signing on with the government. “We will take precautions, but we will not take revenge. We must ensure the past is not repeated,” Salman said. Maliki plans to stand down the guards and usher them into state jobs in 2009. But suspicion runs deep about Maliki's intentions, fuelled by salary delays and recent arrests of Awakening leaders. Last month, fighting broke out between militiamen and government forces in Baghdad after one high-profile leader was arrested. “These men fought alongside the government, sacrificed and were attacked by Al-Qaeda, but they haven't been truly welcomed,” said Saad Al-Hadithi, a political analyst in Baghdad. “This attitude won't lead to political stability. Iraq will just keep running in circles and everyone will lose,” he said.
