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Iraqi PM Maliki: There is no civil war in
Iraq
25.7.2006
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The Iraqi Prime
Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, claimed in London
yesterday that Iraq was not sliding into a civil
war, contradicting senior Iraqi officials in Baghdad
who say a brutal sectarian war has already begun.
He admitted that 100 Iraqi civilians were being
killed every day, though the real figure is probably
much higher after a series of tit-for-tat massacres
this month.
Mr Maliki stopped in London to see Tony Blair and
will continue on to Washington for talks with George
Bush. Mr Maliki told the BBC: "There is a sectarian
issue, but the political leaders ... are working on
putting an end to the sectarian issue. Civil war
will not happen to Iraq." But even top Iraqi
officials are already privately admitting that
central Iraq and in all parts of the country where
there is a mixed population of Shia and Sunni - or,
in the north, Sunni and Kurd - civil war is now
raging. |
Iraqi Prime minister Jawad al-Maliki
Photo:AP |
Asked how long Iraq would need foreign troops, Mr
Maliki said he expected improvements in Iraq's
ability to police itself by the end of the year. "It
is definitely not decades, not even years," he said.
"There are certain aspects of our local forces that
need development. When that happens, foreign troops
can start leaving." He said disarming militias was
key, and the government had a plan to do it. "We
have reached an agreement in the government that we
will have to confront them [the militias] and deal
with them."
This might presage an offensive against the Shia
Mehdi Army militia, which US and British forces have
been targeting in recent days. But much of the
regular army and police, now numbering 264,000, are
in effect controlled by their own community. US
troops raided Mehdi Army facilities in Sadr City in
Baghdad and killed at least 14 militants in Mussayab,
south of Baghdad, arresting eight for suspected
"death squad" activities after the clashes in Sadr
City.
Meanwhile, defence lawyers boycotted yesterday's
session of the trial of Saddam Hussein and seven
others for the killing of 148 Shias in the town of
Dujail in 1982. The US military said Saddam's health
was not yet critical in the third week of his hunger
strike. Saddam, 69, has been drinking coffee and
liquid nourishment and receiving counselling to
persuade him to eat. He is being fed through a
feeding tube but it is not clear if this is forced
feeding.
Adding to the chaos of the trial, which is nearing
its end, Saddam's half-brother and former
intelligence chief, Barzan al-Tikriti, refused his
court-appointed attorney and demanded to be allowed
to leave the chamber. "I am here against my will,"
he said.
Afterward, Barzan was allowed to make his own
statement, in which he displayed contempt for the
entire proceedings. Barzan told the judge that he
did not take notes during his lawyer's summation
"because I do not consider him as a representative
of my case", and accused an unidentified court
employee of extorting $7,500 (£4,055) from his
sister-in-law. The chief judge, Raouf Abdel-Rahman,
asked him to present evidence.
Barzan then began reading a poem about the courage
of Baghdad in resisting foreign occupation, but was
cut short by the judge, who said: "You insult
Baghdad by saying Baghdad has fallen under the boot
of American soldiers. It was the totalitarian and
dictatorship regime that fell - not Baghdad." He
then told the chief prosecutor, Jaafar al-Moussawi,
that he should open a criminal investigation against
Barzan "on a charge of provoking the killing of
Iraqis" by reading inflammatory verse.
independent.co.uk
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