Saudi King Promises Help in Delicate Effort to Unite Factions in Iraq
JIDDA,
Saudi Arabia — King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia assured American officials
on Friday that he would use his influence with Sunni leaders in Iraq to
try to speed the formation of a multisect government there, a senior
State Department official said.
The
king’s assurance is a shift in the Sunni monarchy’s stance and was
conveyed to Secretary of State John Kerry in a meeting that lasted three
and a half hours here.
The
Saudis had been reluctant to support the formation of a new Iraqi
government until it became clear that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal
al-Maliki would not be given a third term.
The
failing security situation in Iraq, which has brought militants from
the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to within striking distance of the
Saudi border in western Iraq, appeared to have led to a change in Saudi
calculations.
The
Saudis also appeared to be calculating that Mr. Maliki’s ability to
secure a third term was in jeopardy and that the best way to block him
was to encourage Sunni parties to join Kurdish parties and Mr. Maliki’s
Shiite rivals in backing an alternative.
Graphic: In Iraq Crisis, a Tangle of Alliances and Enmities
“Both
the secretary and the king believe that the security challenges that
Iraq faces require a new government,” said the State Department
official, referring to the government formation process underway in
Baghdad.
“The
two shared a view that all of Iraq’s communities should be
participating on an urgent basis in the political process to allow it to
move forward, and that both the secretary and King Abdullah in their
conversations with Iraqi leaders would convey that message directly to
them,” added the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under
State Department protocol.
The
Iraqi Parliament is scheduled to begin the process of forming a new
government on Tuesday. To keep the political process on track, American
officials would like the Sunnis to settle on their choice for Parliament
speaker by then. For some time, in an informal understanding, a Shiite
Arab has been prime minister, an ethnic Kurd president and a Sunni Arab
speaker.
Mr.
Kerry underscored in his meeting with the king that Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, had urged the selection of a
Shiite prime minister by then.
The Saudis’ disdain for Mr. Maliki is longstanding.
“I
don’t trust this man,” King Abdullah told John O. Brennan, the C.I.A.
director who was then Mr. Obama’s counterterrorism director, in a March
15, 2009, meeting, according to a classified cable that was made public by WikiLeaks. “He is an Iranian agent.”
Mr.
Kerry’s meeting with King Abdullah was their first of the Iraq crisis
and was held at an ornate palace that featured a marble map of the world
with Muslim countries colored in green.
It followed a Thursday meeting in Paris in which there were indications of a shift in the Saudi stance on Iraq.
During
the meeting here, the king discussed security measures the kingdom was
taking to deal with the potential threat from ISIS in neighboring Iraq.
Mr. Kerry also noted approving a public statement earlier this week from
a Saudi official that the kingdom would increase its oil production to
make up for any disruption of supply from Iraq.
Mr. Kerry also met separately here with Ahmad Assi al-Jarba, the president of the moderate Syrian opposition coalition.
That meeting came one day after the White House announced it was seeking $500 million
from Congress so that the Pentagon could train and arm “vetted
elements” of the Syrian opposition. A leader of the Shammar tribe, which
has branches in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Mr. Jarba
has had strong backing from the Saudis. And Mr. Kerry described him as a
leader who could help the United States counter militants from ISIS,
and who might also be able to play a role in influencing Sunni politics
in Iraq.
“President
Jarba represents a tribe that reaches right into Iraq,” Mr. Kerry said
at their meeting at the airport here. “He knows people there.”
Just
before Mr. Kerry left Saudi Arabia he called Massoud Barzani, the
president of the Kurdish autonomous region. Mr. Kerry had met with Mr.
Barzani in Erbil on Tuesday and urged the Kurds to put aside their
dreams of statehood and join the government formation process in Iraq.
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