Anyone want to lay odds on the likelihood that this conference will take place after Gen. Petraeus' September progress report?
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A planned summit of Iraq's political leaders will be "the moment of truth" for chances of a powersharing deal between Iraq's bitterly divided sects, a Western diplomat said on Saturday.
The pullout of the main Sunni bloc this week left Iraq's government a national unity coalition in name only at a time when it is under pressure from Washington to pass key laws and reach agreement on sharing power."This is the moment of truth for how they may handle this problem," the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told journalists at a briefing in Baghdad's Green Zone, which is home to the government and the U.S. and British embassies.
"This is not just a tiff. It is a very, very serious situation," he said.
The planned summit, a date for which has not yet been announced, will bring together President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, Shi'ite Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi and maybe Masoud Barzani, president of Iraq's Kurdistan region.
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