Mahmoud Othman
Mahmoud Othman
Mahmoud Ali Othmanwas a member of the Interim Iraq Governing Council created following the United States's 2003 invasion of Iraq. A Kurd and Sunni Muslim, Othman was a member of the Political Bureau Kurdistan Democratic Party. He then founded the Kurdish Socialist Party. He was also the Chief Negotiator in the 1970 agreement with the Baath Party. He is now a leading member of the Iraqi National Assembly...
afraid change constitution furious maybe vote
They made this change because they were afraid the constitution would be rejected. But now it may be counterproductive: they made the Sunnis so furious that maybe more of them will vote no.
decision divided quick reach reason
They are divided and that is the reason why they are not able to reach a quick decision on the candidate.
clarify help
It is very important to clarify - an investigation could help defuse tension.
balanced cooperate good prime rule step strong
It's a good step forward, and we will cooperate with him. I don't think he's a strong sectarian. Now he's a prime minister, and he has to rule all Iraq, he has to be balanced and objective.
agree difficult reach tomorrow
It's very difficult to reach something that the Sunnis can agree to. Tomorrow will be crucial.
hard work
Americans are working very hard to work out something.
explained progress stance sticking
There is no progress. We are sticking to our stance and they explained their stance.
achieved saw
By what I saw today, I don't think this can be achieved tomorrow.
goodwill
If there is goodwill from everybody, there could be more concessions,
alliance face government might position
If the position of the Shiite alliance is final, then things will be more complicated and the formation of the government might face delays.
side somewhere
We should not be with one side or the other, but somewhere in the middle.
changes hard intense talks trying
There are intense talks going on. They are trying very hard to see if they can make last-minute changes for the Sunni Arabs.
act afford country decision fragile grasp lead progress quickly running seem situation wisely worse
We are quickly running out of time. We are making very little progress in our negotiations. The situation is fragile and not one where we can afford to be divided. What the politicians don't seem to grasp is that if we don't act wisely and quickly, our decision could lead the country into even worse chaos.
difficult discussing problem
The problem is that they started discussing the most difficult issue.