Aide: Iraqi PM's comments misconstrued
(AP)Updated: 2007-07-16 08:43
BAGHDAD - Iraq's prime minister was misunderstood when he said the Americans could leave "any time they want" an aide said Sunday, as politicians moved to end a pair of boycotts that are holding up work on crucial political reforms sought by Washington.
 Iraqi river police patrol the Euphrates River in Kufa, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq Sunday, July 15, 2007. [AP]  |
The US military said an American soldier from the 13th Sustainment Command was killed Saturday when a bomb exploded near his supply convoy near Baghdad.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told reporters Saturday that the Iraqi army and police were capable of maintaining security when American troops leave.
"We say in full confidence that we are able, God willing, to take the responsibility completely in running the security file if the international forces withdraw at any time they want," al-Maliki said.
Those comments appeared to undercut President Bush's contention that the 155,000 US troops must remain in Iraq because the Iraqis are not capable of providing for their own security.
On Sunday, al-Maliki's adviser Yassin Majid told The Associated Press that the prime minister meant that efforts to bolster Iraq's security forces would continue "side-by-side with the withdrawal."
Majid urged the United States to continue building up Iraqi forces so they would be ready whenever the White House orders a troop withdrawal.
Al-Maliki's remarks appeared to reflect Iraqi frustration with American complaints that the country's religious and ethnic communities have failed to move fast enough to enact power-sharing deals - the key to long-term stability after more than four years of war.
Legislation has stalled in part because of separate boycotts by Sunni legislators and Shiite lawmakers loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Negotiations have been under way to convince both blocs to return during Monday's scheduled parliamentary session.
Adnan al-Dulaimi, a Sunni leader, met Sunday with al-Maliki to discuss the Sunni boycott, which began last month following the ouster of the Sunni speaker of parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani.
The Shiite-dominated parliament voted June 11 to remove al-Mashhadani because of erratic behavior and comments that frequently embarrassed al-Maliki's government.
Sunnis also want the government to set aside an arrest warrant against the Sunni culture minister, accused of ordering an assassination attempt against a fellow Sunni legislator.
After the meeting, al-Dulaimi's spokesman, Muhannad al-Issawi, said that the boycott would continue and if the speaker were replaced, the decision should be made by the Sunnis and "not imposed" by Shiites and Kurds.
But al-Dulaimi was more optimistic about a settlement that would allow the Sunnis to return.
"Things are, God willing, on their way to be resolved," al-Dulaimi told The Associated Press. "The pending issue of al-Mashhadani and that of the minister of culture will be solved by the end of the week, and things will go back to their normal course."
Hassan al-Suneid, a Shiite lawmaker close to al-Maliki, also said a deal was near under which al-Mashhadani could return to his post briefly, then permitted to retire.
Meanwhile, a member of the Sadr bloc said his faction would meet Monday with parliament leaders to discuss their own boycott, launched to protest delays in rebuilding a Shiite shrine in Samarra that was damaged by a bomb in February 2006.
"We will end our boycott when our conditions are accepted," lawmaker Naser al-Saidi told the US-funded Alhurra television.
Those conditions include a plan to rebuild the shrine and secure the road from Baghdad to Samarra, which passes through Sunni insurgent areas.
The absence of the two major blocs has delayed work on
such key benchmark legislation as the oil bill, constitutional reform,
scheduling local elections and restoring many former Saddam Hussein loyalists to
government jobs.
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