Over the last few days, officials from the largest Sunni bloc in the Iraqi Parliament have given very different signals about the Front’s continuation in the political process.

A key MP from the Tawafuq Front, threatened again to withdraw from the Iraqi political process, al-Hayat reported Monday, referring to Khalaf al-'Ilyan, leader of one of the three parties composing the Tawafuq Front.

On Sunday al-'Ilyan delivered remarks threatening withdrawal within "a week to ten days" and demanding international intervention in Iraq.

Yet statements by two other officials contradict this statement, one speaking on Monday.

Speaking from Amman, Jordan, al-'Ilyan, the head of the "Council for National Dialogue" and MP with the Tawafuq Front, said in a press conference on Sunday that the Front’s members were considering withdrawing from the Parliament and the political process, phrasing his warning as a “direct threat of total withdrawal” and of “removing the cover of legitimacy of its implementation of crimes against our people.”

Despite its minority status, as the largest Sunni Arab bloc in parliament, the Tawafuq Front provides important legitimation to the political process implemented after the US invasion of 2003. Many Sunni groups boycotted the elections, and the withdrawal of Tawafuq from the process would be a “nuclear option” that would significantly affect the claims of the Iraqi Parliament and Iraqi constitution to represent all Iraqis.

The Tawafuq Front is a coalition of three Sunni parties who campaigned together in the last parliamentary elections: The Iraqi Islamic Party, led by Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi; the Conference of the People of Iraq, led by MP Adnan al-Dulaimi; and the Council for National Dialogue, led by Khalaf al-'Ilyan. (al-'Ilyan's party is not to be confused with the “Iraqi National Dialogue Front,” led by Salih al-Mutlak, another Sunni MP, and not affiliated with the Tawafuq Front.)

Together, the Iraqi Tawafuq Front holds 44 seats in the Iraqi Parliament, out of a total of 275, making Tawafuq the largest Sunni-led bloc in Iraqi parliamentary politics.

Al-'Ilyan said that the Front would allow “a short period, not exceeding a week to ten days” for the government to implement its demands.

Tawafuq demands have included constitutional reform a recalibration of the security plan, and an end to efforts to lift immunity from prosecution from Tawafuq MPs. Indeed, this is not the first time that Tawafuq MPs have threatened to withdraw from the political process.

'Ilyan remarked on earlier threats to withdraw during Sunday's press conference, saying that the Front “retreated from withdrawal from the political process” when it received assurances “from the Iraqi government and the US occupation forces that our demands will be implemented, but none of these promises have been implemented.” Al-'Ilyan added this time that “what is new in this threat is that the Front will not accept any promise, and (instead) wants direct and immediate implementation of our demands, through the involvement of the Arab League,” referring to the international body composed of the Arab states, al-Hayat reports.

Referring to the Iraqi government, al-Ilyan said, “They are not content to direct the new security plan to strike calm areas, under the cover of fighting terrorism, nor are they content to threaten Tawafuq members of Parliament with the lifting of their parliamentary immunity and raiding their homes.” Ten Tawafuq MPs have are involved in a struggle with the government over a request by the Iraqi High Court that the Parliament lift immunity from the men for prosecution on charges of links to Sunni militant groups.

“They also build checkpoints of sectarian division, such as the walls (under construction) in specific areas,” naming the Baghdad districts of Ghazalya, Amiriya, Adhamiya, significantly all Sunni-predominant areas.

However, in response to a question that the government was targeting Sunnis, al-'Ilyan first demurred, saying that the “government strikes at all those who raise their voice to refuse its positions or its policies,” adding that the one Shi'a community had suffered 1,200 killed, although he then reiterated, “the government targeted Sunnis as the first target,” continuing “It (the government) sees the killing of each Sunni Iraqi as a victory, whether an infant, or child, elder, or woman,” according to al-Hayat.

Al-Ilyan’s remarks contradicted earlier remarks from a Tawafuq spokesperson, and were followed by a denial by another Tawafuq MP.

Less than two weeks ago, Salim Abdallah al-Juburi, an official spokesperson for the bloc, denied that Tawafuq is considering withdrawal from the parliament, al-Quds al-Arabi reported.

Al-Juburi said that the Front was studying new political coalitions, although he did not specify with which other parties.

However, in his press conference on Sunday, al-'Ilyan denied that there was any disagreement between the members of the Tawafuq Front over the threat of withdrawal, saying that there are different points of view, but “we are in agreement on the general issues.” He referred specifically to the Islamic Party, saying it was “a part of the Front” and “I don’t’ believe that it will delay in the implementation of its decision to withdraw.”

On Monday, however, Harith al-Obeidi, a Tawafuq MP affiliated with the Conference of the People of Iraq party, told Voices of Iraq (VOI) that "it is not suitable for the front now to quit government."

"The Tawafuq’s joining of the political process came as a desire by us to rebuild the country on solid bases under a national unified program," said al-Obeidi. The parliamentarian added, "although the government made slow steps to change the situation all over the country, we still believe that there is a room for achieving mutual understanding with other political blocs over some controversial issues," VOI reports. Referring to al-Ilyan’s remarks on Monday, he said, "when we feel that the dialogue with politicians from other blocs reached a deadlock, we would withdraw from the political process," but implied that the Front had not reached that point at this time.

If anything, the mixed signals may be an indication of a political front in disarray in the wake of several developments which have nearly devastated Baghdad's Sunni community.

Assaults by sectarian militias have all but destroyed most of the middle-class Sunni neighborhoods of pre-invasion Iraq, and militant Sunni groups have moved in to Baghdad's Sunni areas to take control of the districts.

Moreover, several Sunni groups have complained that their community has been targeted by the Shi'a-led government in the latest Baghdad security plan, and the Sunni communities of Baghdad complain of lack of basic public services such as electricity or clean water.

Sunni MPs have also cried foul over the recent round of arrest warrants for Tawafuq legislators, saying that they are political and sectarian in motivation, arguing that links between Shi'a militias and the ruling parties are not prosecuted with the same zeal.

Several Tawafuq MPs, including al-'Ilyan and Adnan al-Dulaimi, have fled the country in order to avoid the risk of prosecuted, should Parliament vote to strip immunity.

Additionally, many in the Sunni population are barred from their old jobs by the de-Ba'thification law.

In these conditions, it will be an open question if the parliament's largest Sunni bloc can articulate any coherent policy at all.