Leader close to naming ministers
Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he may be ready to name his nominees for defence and interior minister, the two men who will likely lay the groundwork for carrying out his pledge to take over security around within 18 months, and eventually open the way for US troops to go home.
The chance that Iraq’s key security ministries may be filled by the weekend came on a quiet day that only saw nine killings, including the deaths of three suspected insurgents by US troops on the outskirts of the capital.
In another development, the top US Marine, General Michael Hagee, said he was travelling to Iraq because he feared, based on two recent cases of alleged killings of civilians, that some Marines could become “indifferent to the loss of a human life”.
“We do not employ force just for the sake of employing force. We use lethal forceonly when justified, proportional and, most importantly, lawful,” Hagee wrote in a statement issued by his office. It said he was on his way to Iraq to reinforce the Marine Corps’ standards of behaviour in combat.
The statement and the announcement of his trip to Iraq came just hours after the Marine command in Iraq disclosed a criminal investigation into allegations that an unspecified number of Marines killed an Iraqi civilian west of Baghdad on April 26.
Iraqis made the charge during a meeting with Marine officers on May 1.
In Baghdad, al-Maliki’s deputy prime minister said the government planned to move quickly to restore security for Baghdad’s more than five million residents - who have suffered the most from suicidal killers, roadside bombs and sectarian death squads.
“It is time for those who want to steal the smiles from the Iraqi people and turn its women into mourners to be silenced,” said Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie, who is temporarily filling the defence post.
Although al-Zubaie, a Sunni Arab, did not provide details on al-Maliki’s plans to restore security, President Jalal Talabani said it would probably include a unified force formed from the best and most highly trained members of Iraq’s armed forces and police.
“We are forming a force to protect Baghdad by the best and trained elements in the interior and defence ministries. They will be under one leadership and under the direct supervision of the prime minister,” Talabani told Iraq’s al-Furat TV.
He said the troops would wear one uniform and “be the only authorised force to travel in Baghdad” as part of an effort to eliminate death squads and other armed groups who regularly roam the capital disguised as security forces.
Talabani, a Kurd, said that if the plan was successful it “would contribute to establishing security in Baghdad and in Iraq”.
There has been little discussion about al-Maliki’s announced plan for a phased takeover of Iraq’s 18 provinces, or how it would lead to the eventual withdrawal of foreign troops.
The strategy so far has been for American and international troops to hand over security control for regions and redeploy to larger bases – where they could act in a support or reserve role. A final stage, in the as yet undetermined future, would involve the drawdown of troops from those bases.
