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Al-Maliki reacts positively to Iraq Study
Group's report
8.11.2006
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BAGHDAD, Iraq -
They gathered Wednesday evening inside the fortified
Green Zone, the Iraqi prime minister and a handful
of senior officials, awaiting word of the report
that could shape American policy toward their
embattled country.
The video screen sprang to life. There was the
silver-haired James Baker III, one of the report's
main authors. He stared Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
in the eyes.
Then he listed three conclusions that the Iraq Study
Group had arrived at: The United States should
continue to support the Iraqi government, the Iraqis
should engage in high-level diplomacy with
neighboring countries, and the 140,000 American
troops here should switch from a combat mission to a
support role while drawing down significantly.
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Iraqi Prime minister Jawad al-Maliki
Photo:AP |
A look of relief seemed to pass over al-Maliki's
face, said Sami al-Askari, a conservative Shiite
legislator who was in the room.
``If the report is written in that way, it's good,''
al-Maliki said later, according to al-Askari.
Not all Iraqi politicians were as optimistic.
Kurdish leaders were outraged by proposals that
could weaken Kurdish autonomy, and Sunni Arab
legislators said they had wanted the report's main
points to push for a cleansing of Shiite chauvinist
elements from the government.
AP
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