Maliki boasts of Iraq reconciliation 'success'

[maddezmom]

Source: AFP

KARBALA, Iraq (AFP) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Thursday that Iraq had achieved success in national reconciliation and eliminated sectarian strife.

"The terrorists wanted to tear apart Iraq... destroy its unity. They wanted sectarian strife and a civil war but with your hands you banished the spectre of civil war," Maliki said in a speech at a Shiite religious ceremony in the central shrine city of Karbala.

"Through the awareness of the people we succeeded on the ground. Thank God, national reconciliation among Iraqis has succeeded. We have succeeded in eliminating sectarianism," he said in his address to millions of Shiite faithful gathered at the Imam Hussein shrine for the Arbaeen ceremony.

Maliki urged the people to help chase out Al-Qaeda fighters from their strongholds in the northern regions of Mosul, Kirkuk and Diyala and then "we will focus on rebuilding the country."

The US military says that Al-Qaeda in Iraq has moved into these areas after being chased out from central and western Iraq.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080228/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestreligionshiitemaliki_080228132206

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National reconciliation efforts have succeeded in Iraq and the Iraqis have once again become loving brothers," he said in a speech broadcast live on television. "We have ended the security instability and we have to chase al-Qaida elements in other places such as Mosul, Diyala and Kirkuk in order to finish the battle for good so that we can concentrate on the reconstruction phase."

Al-Maliki, addressing the crowds below from a raised podium in the holy city of Karbala, said it would be "the year of construction and services" and he called on all Iraqis to work to bring the country closer together.

"I affirm the necessity of pushing the political process, boosting security and the economy and combating corruption. ... We should be united and keep away from personal interests in order to face the greater challenges and achieve final victory," al-Maliki said.

The speech came a day after Iraq's presidential council rejected a measure setting up provincial elections and sent it back to parliament for reworking — the latest setback to U.S.-backed national reconciliation efforts.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080228/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AsxwAy9zf2WDvqhQThJeX.oLewgF


Iraqi council strikes down key law
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writers
Wed Feb 27, 5:04 PM ET



BAGHDAD - Iraq's presidential council rejected a plan for new provincial elections and sent the bill back to parliament Wednesday for reworking, a major setback to U.S.-backed efforts to promote national reconciliation.

The ruling came despite a reported last-minute telephone call by Vice President Dick Cheney to the main holdout on the three-member panel, which has to sign off on laws passed by the legislature. The White House tried to put its best face on the development, saying "this is democracy at work."

The outcome underscored the immense challenges involved in efforts to distribute power among Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds five years after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Such power-sharing agreements are the end goal of last year's buildup of U.S. troops. The hope has been that the declining bloodshed will remove the fear that has paralyzed Iraqi politicians, enabling them to compromise and strike deals across the sectarian divide. And that, in theory, should blunt support for the Sunni insurgency and allow American troops to withdraw from the country.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080227/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AndMcC2S0X9TNWG3xKYMB2sLewgF


Shia leader calls for autonomous Shia region (Iraq)
Source: DPA

BAGHDAD - The leader of the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq Ammar Al-Hakim on Wednesday called for the creation of an autonomous Shia region to help quell the ethnic conflict in Iraq.

“We strongly believe in the efficiency and significance of founding the autonomous region,” Al-Hakim said ahead of the Shia religious gathering to commemorate Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him), in Karbala, some 100 kilometres south of Baghdad.

He added: “It (an autonomous region) will surely help in solving many security, political and social problems in Iraq, in addition to balancing the administration in the country.”

Al-Hakim urged Shias to seriously consider the idea, describing it as “vital and sensitive while planning the future of Iraq.”


more:http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=3200160

[tekisui]

1. Super! Bring the Troops home!

[ck4829]

2. If Maliki drives out all the Sunnis, then there wouldn't be a need for all that 'reconciliation'

Taking a look at the huge exodus out of Iraq, that seems to be what is happening.

[Supersedeas]

3. Mission Accomplished--can we go home now....oops, forgot Bush has drilling to do