December 5, 2006
A leading Iraqi Shi'ite politician has said the only
way to avert civil war in Iraq is for U.S.-led
forces to strike harder against Sunni-led
insurgents.
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim was speaking on December 4 in
Washington at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Earlier,
he met with U.S. President George W. Bush who told
al-Hakim that he is not satisfied with the pace of
progress in Iraq.
Al-Hakim is the leader of the Supreme Council for
the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the biggest
party in Iraq's Shi'ite dominated government.
Minority Sunnis accuse the SCIRI's militia -- the
Badr Brigades -- of targeting them.
Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad
and the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, General
George Casey, issued a joint statement urging Iraqis
"not to become pawns of those" who seek to destroy
Iraq. |
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council
for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the
biggest party in Iraq's Shi'ite dominated government |
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