Iraqi PM urges Sunni bloc to end cabinet boycott

BAGHDAD, June 30 (Reuters) Iraq's Shi'ite prime minister today urged the main Sunni bloc to return to government, a day after the faction said it would boycott cabinet meetings because of legal steps against one of its ministers.

The move by the Sunni Accordance Front, which suspended its membership in parliament a week ago too, is another big blow to Iraq's faltering efforts to push through laws aimed at reining in sectarian violence and reconciling majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs.

''I urge ... the leaders of the Accordance Front to cancel their decision to boycott cabinet meetings and to let the judicial process solve this problem in the interests of national reconciliation,'' a statement from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office said.

Ali al-Dabbagh, the spokesman for the Shi'ite-led government, this week told Al-Arabiya television that an arrest warrant had been issued for Culture Minister Asaad Kamal Hashemi in relation to a murder investigation.

Hashemi is in hiding, but Sunni bloc politicians have denied he did anything wrong. Police and court officials have not been able to confirm such a warrant has been issued.

The Accordance Front holds six seats in the 35-member cabinet, including defence, planning and education.

Accordance Front spokesman Saleem al-Jubouri said the bloc was protesting at the manner in which members of the government had ''stained the reputation'' of Hashemi as well as a raid at the minister's home where dozens of guards were temporarily detained.

''We don't want to impede justice, but we have withdrawn in protest at the way the government always deals with these sensitive issues,'' Jubouri said.

Hasan al-Senaid, a senior politician in Maliki's ruling Shi'ite Alliance and who is close to the prime minister, accused the Sunnis of politicising the matter and said the boycott would not greatly affect the government.

''It's surprising because they know Maliki cannot interfere with the independent legal process, even if the allegations were against Maliki himself,'' Senaid said.

But the boycott makes it increasingly hard for Maliki to portray his administration as a unity government since there are effectively no longer any Sunni Arabs involved in the national political process, just Shi'ites and Kurds.

The Sunni Accordance Front suspended its participation in parliament a week ago over the ousting of speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, one of its senior members.

Washington has been urging Iraq for months to pass major laws aimed at drawing Sunni Arabs more firmly into the political process. None of the drafts have reached parliament.

The laws deal with sharing revenues from Iraq's huge oil reserves more equitably, holding provincial elections and amending a ban on former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party serving in the government and military.

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