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· Surprise visit used to
urge end to political squabbling
· Shia bloc rebels call for prime minister to quit
Condoleezza Rice and Jack Straw yesterday increased
pressure for an end to Iraq's political deadlock and
the speedy formation of a national unity government,
during a surprise visit to Baghdad.
"The Iraqi people are losing patience," Ms Rice said
after meeting Sunni, Shia and Kurdish leaders. "What
is more, your international allies want to see this
done."
The intervention by the US secretary of state and
the British foreign secretary came as the position
of Ibrahim Jaafari, the prime minister, weakened
with the first signs of an open revolt by members of
the Shia coalition which won the election more than
three months ago.
The power vacuum has angered Iraqis as well as the
US and British governments. Many feel it has allowed
militias to mount a campaign of sectarian murders
and bring the country to the brink of civil war.
Scores of bodies are being discovered in Iraq's
capital every day, presumably the victims of police
death squads or sectarian killings. Yesterday nearly
40 bodies were found in several Baghdad
neighbourhoods, all handcuffed and with gunshot
wounds to the head or chest, police said.
The US has been growing increasingly impatient with
the Iraqi political class. The reports of
politicians haggling over portfolios as the country
teeters on the edge of a civil war is eroding
support for the occupation among the US public.
During their visit, neither Ms Rice nor Mr Straw
expressed publicly any preference over who should
become Iraq's prime minister.
"There is significant international concern about
the time the formation of this government is
taking," Mr Straw said. "We will be urging the Iraqi
leaders we see to press ahead more quickly."
Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador, was more blunt.
Before the ministers' trip he described Iraq as
"bleeding" because of the lack of a government.
Mr Jaafari was re-nominated by a one-vote margin in
the Shia bloc's selection process in February. He
has been unable to persuade the main Sunni and
Kurdish parties to back him.
The Shias have 130 seats in the 275-member
parliament, too few to push through a cabinet on
their own.
The Kurds complain that Mr Jaafari has done nothing
to help them gain control of the disputed city of
Kirkuk.
The Sunnis say he has failed to rein in the Shia
militias, who are accused of murdering hundreds of
innocent Sunni civilians.
Mr Jaafari has refused to give way to another Shia
candidate who might command more support and until
this weekend his rivals in the Shia bloc felt bound
to maintain coalition unity by backing him as the
nominee.
For the first time, a leader of the biggest party in
the bloc said publicly he should go. "I call on
Jaafari to step down," Jalal al-Deen al-Saghir told
Reuters yesterday. "This is just the beginning and
the other calls will follow."
On Saturday, Kasim Daoud, an independent member of
the Shia bloc, called on Mr Jaafari to give way,
while other Shia MPs said four of the seven main
parties in their bloc had given the prime minister
until yesterday to prove he could get support from
the Sunnis and Kurds. If not, he would be dumped.
Before the December election, US and British
diplomats gave strong hints that they preferred Adel
Abdel Mahdi, the man who went on to lose the Shia
nomination by one vote.
The fact that Mr Jaafari was supported by MPs loyal
to the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr added to
the alarm felt in US and British circles.
The ministers' first stop was with President Jalal
Talabani, who has barely been on speaking terms with
Mr Jaafari for months, according to US officials.
An hour-long meeting with the prime minister began
with awkward exchanges about the weather in front of
photographers, while a meeting with their preferred
candidate, Mr Mahdi, seemed warmer. "How are you?
It's wonderful to see you," Ms Rice told him.
www.guardian.co.uk
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