EU urges politicians to resort to dialogue – statement

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com:  The European Union urged the Iraqi government and its political parties to solve their political differences through dialogue, according to the electronic site of the Foreign Ministry. The EU issued a statement urging the Iraqis “to follow dialogue language at this special stage to identify and solve political differences and meet the demands of the Iraqi people”. The statement added that “the EU supports the Iraqi government in its work to develop democracy and bi-partisanship”. It denounced the recent terrorist attacks in Iraq and expressed “sorrow for the life losses due to utilizing the weak political situation in Iraq“. The Iraqi political scene witnessed political and security tensions, due to demands of some provinces to be transformed into administrative and economic regions, including Salahuddin, Diala and Anbar provinces, in protest against “negligence”, amid expectation to have more calls for new regions due to the conflict between the main two political blocs, State of Law headed by Premier Nouri al-Maliki and Iraqiya bloc, headed by Iyad Alawi. Alawi suspended the work of his bloc at the parliament and the cabinet in protest for the way premier Maliki “is ruling the country unilaterally”. 113