.Iraq PM unveils "peace committee" against violence
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister announced a broad plan to halt militia killings on Monday, as mass kidnaps by men in uniform and dozens of tortured bodies found in Baghdad fueled fears of all-out sectarian civil war.
A day after the U.S. ambassador warned he had just two more months to start curbing the violence or face catastrophe, Nuri al-Maliki met Sunnis and fellow Shi'ite majority leaders to agree a four-point plan focused on all-party local committees in the capital and unspecified new controls on the media.
Though short on detail, it bears the hopes of a nation.
"We will try to stop the bloodshed," veteran Sunni leader Adnan al-Dulaimi said as the assembled officials spoke live on television after the talks. "If this goes on, Iraq is finished."
Point number one, Maliki told Iraqis, would be forming local committees in Baghdad districts to include rival politicians, tribal leaders and the military. These would be overseen -- second point -- by a Central Committee for Peace and Security.
The third element would be new supervision of the media, and the fourth would be monthly reviews.
U.S. and Iraqi officials trying to drive militants from the city say the "Battle for Baghdad" will settle the fate of Iraq.
LITTLE HEADWAY IN FOUR MONTHS
U.S. officials are uneasy that Maliki's unity cabinet, four months after it was formed, has yet to act firmly to rein in party militias and other groups behind sectarian violence.
It is yet to be seen whether he can stop the death squads, some associated with his own Shi'ite allies and responsible for hundreds of killings a week.
"We do not need militias," Maliki said.
The appearance of gunmen in camouflage uniform and driving what looked like government-issue off-road vehicles outside a row of computer stores near Baghdad's Technology University on Monday did nothing to dispel fears the U.S.-trained security forces remain deeply infiltrated by criminals and militiamen.
They seized 14 people, mostly shopworkers, and drove off in seven trucks without license plates, witnesses and police said.
A day earlier, gunmen seized 26 workers from a meat processing plant. Such mass kidnaps have become common in recent months, and have been followed by a mixture of ransom demands, the release of some captives, and the death of many.
A Sunni party said all 26 were Sunnis and were found dead. But police said four escaped from a meat truck and the fate of the 22 others, some of whom were Shi'ites, was still unclear.
A further 30 bodies were found in Baghdad, said an Interior Ministry official -- a typical day. Many had been tortured with power drills or acid, most were bound and shot. Police pulled seven headless corpses from the Tigris downstream of the city.
On Sunday, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad reiterated a view that Maliki had only six months from the moment his cabinet it was formed to start turning around a slide toward a conflict that many fear could break the oil-rich nation into warring blocs and drag in Arab, Iranian and Turkish neighbors.
That left the premier just two more months, Khalilzad noted: "The government, in the course of the next two months, has to make progress in terms of containing sectarian violence."
BUSH UNDER PRESSURE
President Bush, under pressure over Iraq in next month's congressional elections, has vowed to back Maliki if he stays on a course for reconciling the opposing factions.
But many Americans are keen to bring home the 140,000 U.S. troops whose presence may be holding back civil war. Four more were killed, the military said, along with a British soldier.
The faultlines are complex, but a key factor is that Sunnis, dominant under Saddam Hussein, fear Kurds and Shi'ites want to grab the oil located in northern and southern Iraq respectively.
Sectarian rhetoric among political leaders has grown louder, notably since U.S. troops arrested a bodyguard to a Sunni leader on Friday and accused him of plotting suicide attacks on behalf of al Qaeda.
Sunni leaders have hit back, accusing the government of turning a blind eye to Shi'ite militias, notable the Mehdi Army of young cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Several Sunni lawmakers tried to block a monthly renewal of the government's emergency powers in parliament on Monday, saying they were applied unfairly.
It is unclear what media supervision the government plans.
Iraqi officials from all factions routinely accuse the media of exacerbating sectarian tensions. Al Jazeera television is banned from Iraq and rival pan-Arab satellite channel Al Arabiya was forced last month to close its Baghdad bureau for a month.
Much of Iraq's print and broadcast media is controlled by one or other of the competing political groups, and journalists have been frequent targets for kidnap and killing.
Reuters
You think the ambassador is talking about the election. You think he's expecting something to change, or something. Funny language, you got two months, or else.
A day after the U.S. ambassador warned he had just two more months to start curbing the violence or face catastrophe, Nuri al-Maliki met Sunnis and fellow Shi'ite majority leaders to agree a four-point plan focused on all-party local committees in the capital and unspecified new controls on the media.
Though short on detail, it bears the hopes of a nation.
"We will try to stop the bloodshed," veteran Sunni leader Adnan al-Dulaimi said as the assembled officials spoke live on television after the talks. "If this goes on, Iraq is finished."
Point number one, Maliki told Iraqis, would be forming local committees in Baghdad districts to include rival politicians, tribal leaders and the military. These would be overseen -- second point -- by a Central Committee for Peace and Security.
The third element would be new supervision of the media, and the fourth would be monthly reviews.
U.S. and Iraqi officials trying to drive militants from the city say the "Battle for Baghdad" will settle the fate of Iraq.
LITTLE HEADWAY IN FOUR MONTHS
U.S. officials are uneasy that Maliki's unity cabinet, four months after it was formed, has yet to act firmly to rein in party militias and other groups behind sectarian violence.
It is yet to be seen whether he can stop the death squads, some associated with his own Shi'ite allies and responsible for hundreds of killings a week.
"We do not need militias," Maliki said.
The appearance of gunmen in camouflage uniform and driving what looked like government-issue off-road vehicles outside a row of computer stores near Baghdad's Technology University on Monday did nothing to dispel fears the U.S.-trained security forces remain deeply infiltrated by criminals and militiamen.
They seized 14 people, mostly shopworkers, and drove off in seven trucks without license plates, witnesses and police said.
A day earlier, gunmen seized 26 workers from a meat processing plant. Such mass kidnaps have become common in recent months, and have been followed by a mixture of ransom demands, the release of some captives, and the death of many.
A Sunni party said all 26 were Sunnis and were found dead. But police said four escaped from a meat truck and the fate of the 22 others, some of whom were Shi'ites, was still unclear.
A further 30 bodies were found in Baghdad, said an Interior Ministry official -- a typical day. Many had been tortured with power drills or acid, most were bound and shot. Police pulled seven headless corpses from the Tigris downstream of the city.
On Sunday, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad reiterated a view that Maliki had only six months from the moment his cabinet it was formed to start turning around a slide toward a conflict that many fear could break the oil-rich nation into warring blocs and drag in Arab, Iranian and Turkish neighbors.
That left the premier just two more months, Khalilzad noted: "The government, in the course of the next two months, has to make progress in terms of containing sectarian violence."
BUSH UNDER PRESSURE
President Bush, under pressure over Iraq in next month's congressional elections, has vowed to back Maliki if he stays on a course for reconciling the opposing factions.
But many Americans are keen to bring home the 140,000 U.S. troops whose presence may be holding back civil war. Four more were killed, the military said, along with a British soldier.
The faultlines are complex, but a key factor is that Sunnis, dominant under Saddam Hussein, fear Kurds and Shi'ites want to grab the oil located in northern and southern Iraq respectively.
Sectarian rhetoric among political leaders has grown louder, notably since U.S. troops arrested a bodyguard to a Sunni leader on Friday and accused him of plotting suicide attacks on behalf of al Qaeda.
Sunni leaders have hit back, accusing the government of turning a blind eye to Shi'ite militias, notable the Mehdi Army of young cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Several Sunni lawmakers tried to block a monthly renewal of the government's emergency powers in parliament on Monday, saying they were applied unfairly.
It is unclear what media supervision the government plans.
Iraqi officials from all factions routinely accuse the media of exacerbating sectarian tensions. Al Jazeera television is banned from Iraq and rival pan-Arab satellite channel Al Arabiya was forced last month to close its Baghdad bureau for a month.
Much of Iraq's print and broadcast media is controlled by one or other of the competing political groups, and journalists have been frequent targets for kidnap and killing.
Reuters
You think the ambassador is talking about the election. You think he's expecting something to change, or something. Funny language, you got two months, or else.
posted by madtom at 12:17 AM
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