IRAQ/USA: U.S. President George W. Bush hails "new day" in Iraq as new Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vows to use "maximum force against terrorism" amidst continuing violence

Record ID: 836754

  • Title: IRAQ/USA: U.S. President George W. Bush hails "new day" in Iraq as new Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vows to use "maximum force against terrorism" amidst continuing violence
  • Date: 22nd May 2006
  • Summary: WIDE OF DAMAGED BUILDING / BURNED OUT CARS / THICK SMOKE RISING
  • Embargoed: 6th June 2006 13:00
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  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA8Q09J1U9MDKHENAYZRTTDICCP
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  • Story Text: U.S. President George W. Bush hailed the formation of a new Iraqi government, calling it a "new day for millions of Iraqis who want to live in peace."
    Making an address to the American people from the White House on Sunday (May 21) he said: "The formation of a unity government in Iraq is a new day for the millions of Iraqis who want to live in peace. And the formation of the unity government in Iraq begins a new chapter in our relationship with Iraq. This morning, I called the President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker to congratulate them on working together to form the unity government. I assured them that the United States will continue to assist the Iraqis in the formation of a free country, because I fully understand that a free Iraq will be an important ally in the war on terror, will serve as a devastating defeat for the terrorists and al Qaeda, and will serve as an example for others in the region who desire to be free."
    Bush made the remarks as violence continued to rage in Iraq.
    Earlier on Sunday, Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to use "maximum force against terrorism", as bombs killed at least 19 people in Baghdad during the first meeting of his national unity cabinet.
    In a fresh reminder of the huge task Maliki faces in stopping the bloodshed that has pushed Iraq to the brink of sectarian civil war, a string of blasts hit Baghdad, including one suicide bomber who killed at least 13 people and wounded 18 in a crowded restaurant popular with police.
    Police said the dead included police and civilians.
    In an interview at the fortified Green Zone, U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, a key power broker behind the scenes in Baghdad, said that although he is optimistic, there remains many challenges ahead.
    "I am more optimistic now than as I have been in the past, and now that we have the Sunni Arabs participating in the process, now that we have the government of national unity. But I am of course realistic enough to know that there are significant challenges that still are part of the picture. We need a good defence minister who has to be appointed; a good interior minister that has to be appointed and a security situation that has to be dealt with. But I think that fundamentally with the participation of the political communities in the political system, that Iraq has been put on the right trajectory," said Khalilzad.
    He added that the US will hold a dialogue with Iran over concerns that weapons have been smuggled into Iraq from Shiite-dominated Iran, although the Iranian government has strongly denied those allegations.
    Khalilzad said he also wanted to talk to the Iranians about possible arms shipments to Shiite militias.
    "We have said that we will want to talk about Iraq, what can be done to make sure there is not interference in Iraq. We want good relations with Iraq and its neighbours but we do not want Iran or others in the region to send arms to militias, to train militias, to send money to militias or others to undermine this new Iraq so we have a lot of issues to discuss with them with regards to our concerns and what we envision for Iraq and be prepared to listen to their concerns," Khalilzad said.
    The new prime minister, briefing reporters after the cabinet meeting, said, however, that his government would hold out the offer of dialogue to insurgents who lay down weapons.
    He vowed to reimpose the state's monopoly on the armed forces, cracking down on militias.
    As the cabinet met for the first time since Saturday's (May 20) swearing-in in parliament, a car bomb killed three people and wounded 15 in Baghdad's western mainly Shi'ite Shula district.
    Earlier, a roadside bomb on the eastern bank of the Tigris killed three people and wounded 24 in a blast apparently targeting Iraqi police in a busy commercial street.
    Officials had warned of an increase of attacks before and after Saturday's inauguration.
    Beside dealing with Iraqis beset by communal violence and poor basic services, Maliki's strongman approach to Iraq's many woes has raised hopes in Washington that an improvement in security could pave the way for a withdrawal of U.S. troops.
    Maliki has cobbled together a cabinet of Shi'ites, minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds in the hope that a broad-based coalition will ease sectarian violence and consolidate a U.S.-piloted transition to democracy from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.
    But disputes over who would lead the key interior and defence ministries -- in charge of police and the army -- meant those two sensitive posts would be left vacant for now. Maliki said he hoped to fill the posts in two to three days.
    Media in Tokyo said 600 Japanese troops in southern Iraq may start leaving next month. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso welcomed the new government and said Japan would continue to support Iraq's efforts to build a new nation.
    Despite Maliki's efforts to forge consensus among Iraq's rival communities, partisan wrangling over jobs and differences over the role of Islam, the sharing of Iraq's natural resources and the future layout of the Iraqi state highlight the problems he will face in holding his colleagues to a common policy.
    Chief among the many thorny issues that could tear apart Maliki's national government is reviewing a constitution that Sunnis say gives Shi'ites and Kurds too much control over Iraq's vast oil resources and eventually will split the country.
    Under a U.S.-brokered deal aimed at luring Sunnis away from the insurgency and into the political process, parliament must form a committee which will have four months to come up with recommendations on how to amend the charter.
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