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Rice in Baghdad as US urges Arab support
for Iraq
21.4.2008
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April
21, 2008
BAGHDAD, -- US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice during a surprise visit to Baghdad on Sunday
praised political progress in Iraq and urged Arab
support for the government to blunt Iranian
influence.
"I see a coalescing of a centre in Iraqi politics in
which the Sunnis, the Kurdish leadership and the
elements of the Shiite leadership that are not
associated with these 'special groups' (alleged
Iranian backed groups) have been working better than
at any time before," she said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, speaking as he
and Rice began talks in the fortified Green Zone,www.ekurd.net
said that "security had
improved" in the country, to which Rice replied she
had noticed "the road had widened." |
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice |
Her visit comes after hardline Iraqi Shiite cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr threatened on Saturday to declare
"open war" if the crackdown by Iraqi and US forces
against his loyalists is not halted.
"It's been very difficult to get a read of what his
motivations are and what his intentions are," Rice
replied when asked to comment on Sadr's statement.
She added that Maliki was "looking to unite all
Iraqis."
Talking about the run-up to provincial elections in
early October, Rice said: "I do think that there
will be stronger Sunni representation this time. A
number of Sunni groups intend to contest the
elections."
Asked if the elections would be held on time, she
responded: "I don't have any reasons to believe they
won't get done. It's just a lot of work to do."
Speaking on the flight from Washington to the Iraqi
capital, Rice said she had wanted to visit the
heavily fortified Green Zone to show her gratitude
to US personnel who have braved rocket fire there
recently.
"They have stood fast and been tough in pretty
difficult circumstances over the last few weeks."
Two American government officials and two US
soldiers have been killed by intensive rocket and
mortar fire, which began on March 21. Two Iraqi
guards of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi have
also been killed in the attacks.
Rice last stopped over in Baghdad on January 15,
when she praised "remarkable" political progress in
Iraq, saying it represented a time of hope for the
country.
She was followed in mid-March by Vice President Dick
Cheney who vowed the US would stay the course in
Iraq as he urged Arab states to open full diplomatic
ties with Baghdad if they want to counter Iranian
influence.
Rice echoed Cheney's message on Sunday.
"The neighbours could do more to live up to their
obligations because I do believe the Iraqis are
beginning to live up to theirs," Rice told reporters
on her plane, urging Sunni Arab leaders to send
their diplomats back to Baghdad and ease Iraq's debt
load.
Speaking before her aircraft stopped to refuel at
Shannon in Ireland, Rice said security has improved
and Maliki is acting on Arab calls to reconcile
Iraq's Sunni and Shiite Arabs as well as Kurds.
Since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Sunni
leader Saddam Hussein, Iraq's Arab neighbours have
worried not only about violence there but also about
backing a government tilted towards non-Arab Shiite
Iran.
Rice urged the Arabs to take special encouragement
from Maliki's decision to crack down last month on
Iranian-backed Shiite militias, even though it has
produced a spike in violence.
"At some point Arab states need to take yes for an
answer in terms of... Iraq's commitment to its Arab
identity," Rice said.
She will press her point further in face-to-face
talks with her Arab counterparts in both Bahrain on
Monday and Kuwait on Tuesday.
Copyright, respective author or news agency, AFP
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