.Maliki Says Iraq Must Overcome
BAGHDAD -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday that Iraq must rise above the violence and assert itself in international and cultural forums in a bid to achieve normalcy as the war enters its sixth year.
The Shiite leader made the comments while opening a cultural festival south of Baghdad on the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion.
"Iraq cannot be anything but strong, unified and active in the surrounding region. It will not be isolated," Mr. Maliki said in a speech broadcast on state television. "As Iraq has triumphed over terrorism, it will triumph in the international arena."
The optimistic remarks were the latest in a series of appearances as the prime minister seeks to use a sharp decline in violence in the capital and surrounding areas to project a stable image and bolster his beleaguered government.
He also attended a celebration Wednesday of the Prophet Muhammad's birthday in the revered Sunni Abu Hanifa mosque in Azamiyah, a Sunni Arab stronghold that had once been among Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods.
The neighborhood in the northern part of the capital, which has been surrounded by concrete barriers and checkpoints, has been relatively peaceful after local residents joined forces with the U.S. against al Qaeda in Iraq.
Mr. Maliki said the cultural festival in Hillah, the predominantly Shiite capital of Babil province, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, was evidence that Iraq was on the road to recovery. "This is a sign of the return to normal life in Iraq," he said before having to end his speech early after the power went out.
The comments came a day after Iraq's presidential council, under strong U.S. pressure, signed off on a measure paving the way for provincial elections by the fall, a major step toward easing sectarian rifts. The elections would open the door to greater Sunni representation in regional administrations as well rival Shiite factions.
The measure approved Wednesday calls for a new local vote to be held by Oct. 1, although many details must still be worked out before the elections can be formally scheduled.
The approval of the measure came two days after U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney visited Baghdad to press Iraqi leaders to take advantage of a lull in violence to make progress in power-sharing deals to heal sectarian and ethnic divisions.
A spokesman for the biggest Sunni bloc, Saleem Abdullah, said Mr. Cheney pushed hard for progress on the elections as well as a stalled measure to share the country's oil wealth.
Many Sunnis boycotted the last election for provincial officials in January 2005, enabling Shiites and Kurds to win a disproportionate share of power even in areas with substantial Sunni populations. That helped fuel the Sunni-led insurgency and the wave of sectarian bloodletting that drove the country to the brink of civil war before President Bush rushed nearly 30,000 U.S. reinforcements to Iraq last year.
As a sign of the ongoing threat, a female suicide bomber Wednesday detonated an explosives vest packed with ball bearings near a bus terminal in Balad Ruz northeast of Baghdad. The U.S. military said Thursday that five Iraqis were killed and 17 wounded, including two policemen.
Elsewhere in the volatile Diyala province, an Iraqi soldier was killed and another wounded after a booby-trapped door exploded as they were clearing a water treatment plant, the military said.
A suicide bomber driving a dump truck packed with 2,000 pounds of explosives also struck Iraqi troops in the northwestern city of Mosul, killing a soldier and wounding 19 others, according to another military statement.
WSJ
The Shiite leader made the comments while opening a cultural festival south of Baghdad on the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion.
"Iraq cannot be anything but strong, unified and active in the surrounding region. It will not be isolated," Mr. Maliki said in a speech broadcast on state television. "As Iraq has triumphed over terrorism, it will triumph in the international arena."
The optimistic remarks were the latest in a series of appearances as the prime minister seeks to use a sharp decline in violence in the capital and surrounding areas to project a stable image and bolster his beleaguered government.
He also attended a celebration Wednesday of the Prophet Muhammad's birthday in the revered Sunni Abu Hanifa mosque in Azamiyah, a Sunni Arab stronghold that had once been among Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods.
The neighborhood in the northern part of the capital, which has been surrounded by concrete barriers and checkpoints, has been relatively peaceful after local residents joined forces with the U.S. against al Qaeda in Iraq.
Mr. Maliki said the cultural festival in Hillah, the predominantly Shiite capital of Babil province, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, was evidence that Iraq was on the road to recovery. "This is a sign of the return to normal life in Iraq," he said before having to end his speech early after the power went out.
The comments came a day after Iraq's presidential council, under strong U.S. pressure, signed off on a measure paving the way for provincial elections by the fall, a major step toward easing sectarian rifts. The elections would open the door to greater Sunni representation in regional administrations as well rival Shiite factions.
The measure approved Wednesday calls for a new local vote to be held by Oct. 1, although many details must still be worked out before the elections can be formally scheduled.
The approval of the measure came two days after U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney visited Baghdad to press Iraqi leaders to take advantage of a lull in violence to make progress in power-sharing deals to heal sectarian and ethnic divisions.
A spokesman for the biggest Sunni bloc, Saleem Abdullah, said Mr. Cheney pushed hard for progress on the elections as well as a stalled measure to share the country's oil wealth.
Many Sunnis boycotted the last election for provincial officials in January 2005, enabling Shiites and Kurds to win a disproportionate share of power even in areas with substantial Sunni populations. That helped fuel the Sunni-led insurgency and the wave of sectarian bloodletting that drove the country to the brink of civil war before President Bush rushed nearly 30,000 U.S. reinforcements to Iraq last year.
As a sign of the ongoing threat, a female suicide bomber Wednesday detonated an explosives vest packed with ball bearings near a bus terminal in Balad Ruz northeast of Baghdad. The U.S. military said Thursday that five Iraqis were killed and 17 wounded, including two policemen.
Elsewhere in the volatile Diyala province, an Iraqi soldier was killed and another wounded after a booby-trapped door exploded as they were clearing a water treatment plant, the military said.
A suicide bomber driving a dump truck packed with 2,000 pounds of explosives also struck Iraqi troops in the northwestern city of Mosul, killing a soldier and wounding 19 others, according to another military statement.
WSJ
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