Radical cleric 'to end boycott of Iraq govt'
Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has agreed to allow supporters to rejoin the Iraqi government after a three-week boycott, officials close to the militia leader said, as political rivals pushed to form a coalition without him.
The US military announced the deaths of three Marines and one US sailor from combat wounds in Iraq’s western Anbar province, an insurgent stronghold. In December, 75 American troops have been killed; at the current rate, the number of US combat deaths this month could meet or exceed the previous monthly record for 2006.
At least 2,963 American troops have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
It was unclear whether a new coalition taking shape among Shiites, Kurds and one Sunni party would be able to govern effectively without the backing of al-Sadr’s 30 loyalists in the 275-member parliament, and his six ministers in the 38-member Cabinet.
The cleric’s followers had boycotted politics to protest the prime minister’s recent meeting with US President George W. Bush, but appear to have decided to go back to parliament to strengthen their bargaining power – backed up by a militia army – and avoid political isolation.
Shiites from parliament’s largest bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance, met yesterday in the holy city of Najaf to seek approval for a coalition that crosses sectarian lines from the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a revered cleric who holds sway over many Iraqi Shiites and is said to be alarmed at the sectarian bloodshed sweeping swathes of the country.
The Shiite delegates planned to visit al-Sadr later Friday or Saturday, participants and their aides said on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the talks.
“The al-Sadr movement will return to the government and parliament,” said Abdul Karim al-Anizi, a Shiite lawmaker from Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s Dawa faction, which had relied on al-Sadr for political support.
Two figures in al-Sadr’s movement – an aide to the cleric and a member of parliament – also said the cleric had agreed to allow his followers to end their boycott.
“We will rejoin the government and the parliament very soon,” the lawmaker said. Al-Sadr’s group planned to issue a statement tomorrow, he said.
Some Shiite lawmakers had wanted al-Sadr, whose Mahdi Army fighters have been blamed for much of Iraq’s sectarian violence, to return to the government and avoid a Shiite split.
However, the ability of the Shiite bloc to remain united within a broader coalition that included Kurds and Sunnis remained in question. Such a US-backed alliance could isolate al-Sadr, who has repeatedly called for the immediate withdrawal of American troops.
The walkout by al-Sadr’s supporters had prevented the government from passing laws, contributing to a sense of political crisis alongside a deteriorating security situation. The United Iraqi Alliance had 130 seats, including those of al-Sadr until his supporters walked out.
A militant umbrella group that includes al Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for a suicide bomber who killed 15 people and wounded 15 others in a crowd of police volunteers in eastern Baghdad yesterday.
The claim appeared on an Islamic website, and was signed by the ”Islamic state in Iraq,” a so-called Islamic government that al-Qaida in Iraq and several other Iraqi Sunni Arab insurgent groups declared earlier this year.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that Iraq was “worth the investment” in American lives and dollars and said the US can still win a conflict that has been more difficult than she expected.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of money,” Rice said. ”Along the way there have been plenty of markers that show that this is a country that is worth the investment, because once it emerges as a country that is a stabilising factor you will have a very different kind of Middle East.”
Bush is considering whether to quickly send thousands of additional US troops to the country to control the violence. There are 140,000 American troops in Iraq.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates says he is assuring Iraqis of the “steadfastness of American support.” But hanging over his discussions in Baghdad this week is also a clear message: Even if more troops were sent, Iraqis must take the lead in quelling the violence.
Gates, on his second day of a visit to the war zone, said he talked with Iraqi leaders about how the US can best play a supporting role.
Speaking to reporters after meetings with Prime Minister Maliki and other Iraqi officials, Gates said the talks were “mainly on the overall approach, including the possibility of some additional assistance.” He said no troops numbers were discussed.
Today, a parked car bomb killed two people and wounded four in Samarra, some 60 miles north of Baghdad, police said. A roadside bomb struck a police patrol near the national theatre in downtown Baghdad, wounding two policemen.
