Iraq's largest Sunni political bloc on Wednesday said that it has pulled out from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government over his failure to meet their demands.
"The Iraqi Accordance Front announces its withdrawal from Nuri al-Maliki's government," Rafie al-Issawi, a key member of the front told reporters in Baghdad.
He said that the front's six cabinet ministers would resign later in the day.
"The government continued its arrogance and has shut the door for any reforms," he said.
Last week, the Sunni Arab front gave Maliki's government a week of suspension to meet its demands which included a pardon for security detainees who are not charged with crimes, disband militias, give the front real participation in making decisions and a firm commitment to human rights.
"We have decided to withdraw from the government after it ignored our demands, especially, the pardon for security detainees not charged with crimes," Ibrahim Danoon, a front member told Xinhua.
Danoon held Maliki the responsibility for the possible deterioration of political process in the war-torn country.
Earlier, officials in Maliki's government said that the Sunni front was trying to blackmail Maliki.
The bloc's decision would not include withdrawal for its 44 lawmakers from the 275-seat parliament.
On Tuesday, Iraq's Kurdish president Jalal Talabani met top Sunni Arab politicians in a bid to save the Shiite-dominated government from possible collapse.
Talabani also warned of "negative consequences" on the country's national unity government if the Sunni ministers withdraw from the government.
In April, five more cabinet ministers loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had also quit the government to protest al- Maliki's reluctance to announce a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.
Source: Xinhua
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