BAGHDAD — A newly formed alliance of Sunni Muslim leaders held its first meeting here Saturday to forge plans for gaining a greater voice in Iraq's emerging political culture.
But the session's acrimonious exchanges and demands on the country's fledgling Shiite leadership made it clear that Sunnis had a long way to go before they could recover any of the clout they lost when President Saddam Hussein was toppled by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
The Sunni congress Saturday, attended by 1,000 delegates, demanded the resignation of newly appointed Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, a Shiite. At a news conference, Jabr rejected the call and said that the failure of most Sunni Arabs to vote in the Jan. 30 national election had resulted in a self-inflicted exclusion.
"Those who didn't vote have no right to ask for this," he said.
The minority community, which accounts for less than 20% of Iraq's population, was favored under the regime of Hussein, who was a Sunni.
Shiites, about 60% of the population, and ethnic Kurds, both oppressed by Hussein's Baathist regime, now hold the reins of power.
Mostly Sunni insurgents have been waging a campaign of terror against Iraqis working with the U.S.-led military forces and are believed to be responsible for an early morning ambush Saturday of an elite Interior Ministry squad known as the Wolf Brigade.
Gunmen opened fire on more than a dozen cars carrying the agents as they passed near Baiji, 125 miles north of Baghdad on the road to Mosul. Three brigade members were reported killed.
Sunnis, meanwhile, are blaming the Shiites and government security units such as the Wolf Brigade for a series of slayings of Sunni clerics.
Jabr on Saturday denied that his police or security forces were responsible for the killings.
Some Sunni analysts hailed the meeting Saturday as a sign of willingness to engage with other Iraqis.
"Sunnis are united but they have differences of opinion, with some saying we can't get involved in the political process until there is a schedule for U.S. troops to withdraw," said Sheik Hashim Ithawa of the Islamic Iraqi Party.
Hashim urged fellow Sunnis to take part in future elections and a planned referendum on a new constitution that is to be drafted in coming months. He said he hoped Sunnis would no longer "give others the opportunity to marginalize us."
