Iraq's Maliki calls for forgiveness of Saddam allies - Helald Tribune

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, growing in strength as violence fades and Iraq tries to embrace political unity, called for forgiveness on Friday for allies of Saddam Hussein. "We must reconcile with those who committed mistakes, who were obliged in that difficult era to side with the past regime.

Today they are again sons of Iraq," Maliki told a meeting of tribal leaders in Baghdad.
"We will reconcile with them, but on the condition they come back to us and turn the page on that dark part of Iraq's history ... What happened, happened," he said.

The call for forgiveness comes five weeks after January's provincial polls in which allies of Maliki, a Shi'ite and former opposition member who fled Iraq under Saddam and was sentenced to death in absentia, swept much of central and southern Iraq.

Salman al-Jumaili, a parliamentarian from the main Sunni Arab block, the Accordance Front, welcomed Maliki's words but told Reuters they should be backed up with action.

"We hope that these speeches will be translated into legislation and measures to allow this category (former members of Saddam's Baath party) to re-integrate with society," he said.

Parties across the spectrum are now hammering out agreements to form majority blocs on provincial councils across Iraq, with an eye to national elections at the end of the year.

While the violence unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam is subsiding in most parts of Iraq, political rapprochement is proving more elusive.

Many of the players who have dominated Iraqi politics since 2003 appear unwilling to forgive the sectarian killing of recent years or set aside long-standing feuds over power and resources, many of which stem from Saddam's system of according privilege and power to fellow Sunni Arabs.

Iraq has passed legislation to reverse a government purge of members of Saddam's banned Baath party, instigated by U.S. authorities following the invasion. That decision helped fuel a bloody Sunni Arab insurgency.

While Maliki often speaks of the need for national reconciliation, some complain his Shi'ite-led government is dragging its feet on re-embracing former Baathists.

Some rivals, including Iraq's minority Kurds, fear Maliki will try to consolidate power, and have accused Maliki of edging towards authoritarianism.

Feriyad Rawanduzi a lawmaker from the Kurdish alliance, called on Maliki to "open the door wide to reconciliation not only with members of the past regime but with all those in the political process."

But he added that former members of Saddam's Baath party who committed grave crimes should be punished.

Big poll wins for Iraq PM's bloc - BBC

Preliminary results from Iraq's provincial elections show big wins for the bloc headed by the prime minister, Nouri Maliki.

His coalition won victories in Baghdad and Basra, and emerged as the largest group across the mainly Shia provinces of southern Iraq.

The other major city, Mosul, saw a strong result for a Sunni faction which boycotted the last elections.

Saturday's ballot was the first major poll held in the country since 2005.

The preliminary results, which are subject to appeal and review, confirmed what many anecdotal and unofficial accounts had already claimed, that the State of Law Coalition, headed by the prime minister, has come out very strongly in Shia and mixed areas.

Disappointed

It took 37% of the votes in Basra, 38% in Baghdad, and was ahead of the competition in most of the largely Shia south.

This happened at the expense of what was the biggest Shia faction, the Supreme Islamic Council in Iraq, regarded as close to Iran, and running under a different name.

Followers of the militant Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr will also be disappointed by their results.

Among the most closely watched returns were those for the mainly Sunni province of al-Anbar, to the west of Baghdad, where tribal leaders had threatened to take up arms if rival Sunni political parties came out on top.

The results showed one of the traditional parties just half a percentage point ahead of the main tribal coalition, with their chief adversaries coming in third.

It is perhaps a good enough result for the tribal factions to head off trouble, though a pre-emptive curfew has been declared there.

Further north in Mosul, as expected, a newly-formed Sunni faction came out well ahead of Kurdish groups, restoring political balance in an area where Sunnis are the majority.

The electoral commission says it is investigating many claims of election irregularities and the final results may be amended in the coming weeks if they are justified.

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Independents sense opening in Basra poll - Financial Times

By Andrew England in Basra

With his flashy yellow tie and smart business suit decorated with a lapel badge emblazoned with his smiling face, Hatem Albachary looks very much the part of the campaigning politician.

He talks of the need to resolve Basra’s dire electricity problems, including a plan to lure investors to buy and run generators, tackling the city’s high unemployment and improving rundown water services.

Mr Albachary hopes to dilute the influence of the religious parties that have dominated Basra and the other southern provinces since the 2005 elections.

“After 2005, what benefits did the normal Iraqi, the poor Iraqi, get?” he says “Nothing. We are looking forward to our next generation – it’s very important we get the right leaders.”

Mr Albachary is one of scores of “independents” contesting Saturday’s elections, hoping to exploit any weaknesses in the support for the Shia Islamist parties that have run the city and been blamed for disastrous corruption and violence.

The independents claim to include technocrats and businessmen that would, if elected, focus on rebuilding Basra, which is critical to the economic health of Iraq.

With its vast oil reserves and the nation’s only access to the sea, Basra highlights the potential of a stable Iraq. But instead the city became a battleground for rival Shia factions fighting for control of its resources.

Influence in the city had been divided between the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, the largest and strongest of the Shia groups, the Dawa party of Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, Fadhila, a smaller party that holds the governorship in Basra, and the Sadrist movement of Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical cleric.

Before a semblance of security was restored after the Iraqi military, backed by US and UK forces, launched a massive offensive against the militias last March, different factions controlled the port, the security services and the streets, spreading fear throughout the city. In spite of the bloody history, the main Shia parties are expected to retain ultimate control of the south, partly because of their resources. But even officials with those movements accept that there is a desire for real change.

“People want something to touch with their hands, not promises,” says Shawqi al-Maliki, a candidate for the Supreme Council. “The elections will change the policy map. The winning party will take new views when they serve the people and they will co-operate with them.”

If the Supreme Council does well at the polls, the result could bolster its plans to achieve greater autonomy for the nine southern provinces. It is a position that puts it at odds with the Dawa party, which favours a strong central government and may benefit from the improved standing of Mr Maliki, the prime minister.

Click here for the article on the FT

Iraq allows British troops to stay - Reuters

Iraq's parliament approved a measure on Tuesday that clears the way for troops from Britain, Australia and a handful of other nations to stay in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at year's end, a senior lawmaker said.

A vote on the measure was delayed for several days by squabbling in the parliament, whose speaker resigned just before Tuesday's vote after angering some politicians with his brash style and insults in a session last week.

"We authorize the government to take all necessary steps regarding foreign forces other than U.S. forces," said deputy parliamentary speaker Khalid al-Attiya. He said the measure approved would allow the troops to stay in Iraq through the end of July 2009.

Forces from Britain, Australia, El Salvador, Romania and Estonia and NATO have been awaiting a new arrangement to legalize their presence in Iraq after the U.N. mandate expires in little over a week.

Lawmakers said the resolution empowered the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to strike a deal with these countries permitting their troops to stay, without that deal having to go back to parliament for further scrutiny.

"What happened today is parliament giving its authorization to the government to make such a deal," legislator Jaber Habeeb Jaber told Reuters.

He added parliament could do this because the likely agreement sought by the government would be a memorandum of understanding rather than a full blown pact or treaty.

For the full article click here for the Reuters website

UK troops to leave Iraq 'by July' - BBC

Gordon Brown and Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki say UK forces will have "completed their tasks" and leave the country by the end of July next year.

The two leaders' joint statement came as they held talks in Baghdad before Mr Brown headed to Basra.

The UK PM praised his forces for making Iraq a "better place".

There are currently about 4,100 UK troops in Basra, southern Iraq. Between 200 to 300 military advisers are likely to remain after combat troops leave.

'New era'

The withdrawal announcement comes after at least 18 people were killed and dozens wounded in a twin bomb attack in Baghdad on Wednesday.

BBC diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams said the announcement ended months of speculation.
At a press conference, Mr Brown said: "We have agreed today that the mission will end no later than 31 May next year.

"Our troops will be coming home within the next two months [after that]."

Mr Maliki confirmed that the agreement included a provision for the Iraqi government to request an extension of the British military presence.

However, both leaders indicated it was not expected to be used.
Mr Brown said: "We have made a huge contribution and of course given people an economic stake in the future of Iraq. We leave Iraq a better place."

He added: "I am proud of the contribution British forces have made. They are the pride of Britain and the best in the world."

In their joint statement, the leaders said the role played by the UK combat forces was "drawing to a close".

Foe the full article click here for the BBC website

British PM Brown in Iraq on surprise visit: TV

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday on a surprise visit expected to focus on the fate of his country's remaining troops in Iraq.

"Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki this morning welcomed his British counterpart Gordon Brown in Baghdad," state television Al-Iraqiya said.

It is Brown's fourth visit to Iraq since he took office in June last year and comes hot on the heels of a farewell trip by George W. Bush that was marked by an Iraqi journalist hurling his shoes at the US president.

London newspapers have reported that Britain intends to begin withdrawing troops in March with most out by June, although defence officials insist the precise timetable will depend on conditions on the ground at the time.

Britain has around 4,100 troops in Iraq, based at Basra airport outside the southern oil port city. They are training local troops but retain the capacity to intervene if required by Iraqi forces.
Brown's visit comes after the Iraqi cabinet approved a bill calling for all foreign soldiers except for American forces to pull out of the country by the end of July.

Citing a senior defence source, the BBC and The Times newspaper said the pullout was planned to begin in March -- six years after the US-led invasion of Iraq -- if provincial elections set for the end of January passed off peacefully.

The Ministry of Defence did not deny the reports.

"We plan -- subject to the conditions on the ground and the advice of military commanders -- to reduce our force levels in Iraq as we complete our key tasks in Basra in the early months of next year," an MoD spokesman said.

But he added: "Final decisions on the timing of the drawdown will depend on the circumstances at the time.

"We will remain committed to Iraq. We expect to move from next year towards a long-term, broad-based bilateral relationship with Iraq similar to the relationship we have with other allies in the region, including a training and education role for our military personnel."

British commanders had intended to reduce troop numbers to 2,500 earlier this year, though conditions on the ground prevented them from doing so.

On his last visit to Iraq in July, Brown spelled out four objectives to be completed before British troop numbers could be reduced.

These were finishing the training of the Iraqi army in Basra, transferring Basra airport to civilian use, aiding local economic development and providing support for the January 31 election -- the first vote in the country since 2005.

On his return, he told British parliament that he expected a "fundamental change of mission in the first months of 2009" but he expressly ruled out setting a timetable for their withdrawal.

For the story on the AFP site click here

From Barrow to Basra – Hutton tours frontline and outlines future UK role

DEFENCE Secretary John Hutton was today out on patrol on the dangerous streets of downtown Basra to see for himself the risk to British troops on the frontline in Southern Iraq.

KEY TALKS: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, right, meets British Defense Secretary John Hutton, left, in Baghdad yesterday

The Barrow and Furness MP was with squaddies in a six-wheeled Mastiff armoured car as they did their job in the city.

Mr Hutton arrived at the main British troop base at Basra Airport on the outskirts of the city early this morning after meeting Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Al Maliki, and his Defence Chief General, Abdul Qadir, in the capital Baghdad yesterday.

Mr Hutton has signalled there would be a “fundamental change” in Britain’s role in Iraq early next year, adding that “significant progress” had been made in Iraq in recent months and security was improving across the country.

Read the full article on The North West Evening Mail here