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A Way Out of the Iraqi Impasse
Demonstrators are occupying parliament in Baghdad, with Iraq’s main political camps deeply divided.
The standoff need not turn violent, if the country’s leaders can shift to dialogue with support from foreign partners.
- Lahib Higel
- ICG
It has been ten months since Iraqis went to the polls, for the fifth general election in the post-Saddam era, and the new parliament has yet to form a government.
Drawn-out periods of government formation are nothing new in post-2003 Iraq, but this time around the implications may be more serious than usual.
Tensions among the Shiite parties, which together hold the most total parliamentary seats, run so deep, and the…