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Iraqi Leader Slams Critics As Encouraging Terrorism

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By BASSEM MROUE, The Associated Press

Published: September 3, 2007

BAGHDAD - Iraq's embattled prime minister defended his government Sunday against U.S. critics, saying they underestimate the problems facing his country and fail to appreciate his achievements 'such as stopping the civil and sectarian war.'

Criticism of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's leadership has been growing in the run-up to this month's reports to Congress on political and security progress since President Bush dispatched nearly 30,000 more troops to Iraq.

Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have called for al-Maliki to be replaced.

'Regrettably, these statements made by U.S. officials sometimes exceed reasonable limits and at the same time send regrettable messages which help terrorists think that the security situation in the country is weak and the political forces are not cohesive,' al-Maliki told reporters.

He said critics are sending 'negative messages that encourage terrorism.'

'Maybe they don't know the size of the destruction that Iraq passed through and the big role of the Iraqi government and its achievements such as stopping the civil and sectarian war,' al-Maliki said.

Repairing '35 Years Of Injustice'

During an interview broadcast Sunday by Iraqi state television, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker also urged patience with the Iraqis as they try to reach power-sharing agreements among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

'After 35 years of injustice under Saddam Hussein, there are some problems since liberation, and the problems of 40 years cannot be solved in a year or two,' Crocker said in Arabic. 'What is important is that there is progress.'

A draft report under review at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad includes allegations that the al-Maliki government is riddled with corruption and has, in some cases, sought to derail investigations into alleged graft by Shiite-controlled agencies or allied officials, say two U.S. officials familiar with the findings.

The draft report by the Office of Accountability and Transparency has yet to be reviewed by senior diplomats who are part of an anticorruption group or by Crocker, who along with top commander Gen. David Petraeus is due to report to Congress next week.

Al-Maliki's boast of 'stopping' the war may fall short of the facts, but it reflects the frustration of Iraqi officials who say congressional critics are pushing for political goals that are unrealistic given the depth of Iraq's political and social divisions.

Those divisions exist not only between Sunnis and Shiites but also within each sectarian community.

To ease divisions within Shiite ranks, al-Maliki ordered what he promised would be an 'unbiased investigation' into last week's fighting between rival Shiite militias during a religious festival in Karbala. As many as 51 people were killed in two days of clashes, officials said.

The clashes escalated after a confrontation between supporters of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, head of the Mahdi Army militia, and mosque guards from the Badr Organization, affiliated with the country's biggest Shiite party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.

300 Questioned Over Clashes

Al-Sadr, who has denied that the Mahdi Army provoked the confrontation, announced a surprise six-month suspension of the militia's activities Wednesday after the fighting in Karbala, in an apparent attempt to deflect criticism and rein in extremists in the ranks.

Al-Sadr demanded an investigation into the clashes that broke out Aug. 27. His followers said local officials from the Supreme Council have used the Karbala clash as a pretext to crack down on their political rivals in the al-Sadr movement.

Brig. Gen. Raid Shaker, commander of Karbala police, said 300 detainees are being questioned.

Al-Sadr's office said more than 200 of them were al-Sadr loyalists, making al-Maliki's praise of the decision to freeze the Mahdi Army nothing more than 'ink on paper.'

'After the procrastination we had seen in the past two days, we warn the Iraqi government and the executive authorities in Karbala if they don't open a fair, neutral and quick investigation, the Sadr office will be obliged to take unspecified measures,' the cleric's spokesman, Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, said in Najaf.

DEVELOPMENTS

•British soldiers began withdrawing Sunday from their last base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, paving the way for fresh troop cuts.

•In Baghdad on Sunday, a car bomb exploded on Eddin Square, killing nine people and injuring 15.

•U.S. troops killed eight extremists and arrested four in raids in Baghdad.

Source: The Associated Press

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