Iraqi PM vows “maximum force” as bombs kill 19

By Lutfi Abu Oun and Ibon Villelabeitia

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki
vowed to use “maximum force against terrorism” on Sunday, 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
reining in bloodshed that has pushed Iraq to the brink of
sectarian civil war, three blasts hit Baghdad, including one
that killed at least 13 people and wounded 18 in a crowded
restaurant popular with police.

Police said the casualty figures included police and
civilians but did not give details.

The tough-talking Shi’ite Islamist, briefing reporters
after the cabinet meeting, said however that his government
would hold out the offer of dialogue to insurgents that lay
down weapons.

He vowed to reimpose the state’s monopoly on the armed
forces, cracking down on militias.

“We will use maximum force against terrorism, but we also
need a national initiative,” he said.

An Arab League national reconciliation meeting is due to
take place next month in Baghdad.

“Weapons should only be allowed in the hands of the
government. Militias, death squads, terrorism, killings and
assassinations are not normal and we should put an end to the
militias.”

As the cabinet met for the first time since Saturday’s
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.

Besides 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.

Reading out a government program to parliament as U.S.
ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad looked on, Maliki said he will work
to speed up the transfer of security responsibilities to Iraq’s
U.S.-trained forces so that foreign troops could leave within
an “objective timetable.”

KEY POSTS VACANT

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
defense 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 the next two to
three days.

Khalilzad, a key power broker behind the scenes in Baghdad,
said the formation of the government, with crucial involvement
from Saddam’s once dominant fellow Sunnis, brought 130,000
American troops closer to going home.

“I believe that, with the political changes taking place —
the emphasis on unity and reconciliation, with effective
ministers … — that conditions are likely to move in the
right direction and that would allow adjustment in term of the
size, composition and mission of our forces,” he said.

“We are going to be moving in the direction of downsizing
our forces. But that is always dependent on the conditions.”

Maliki, in outlining his program to parliament, said his
government aimed to complete rebuilding Iraq’s armed forces
with “an objective timetable for … the end of the tasks of
the multinational forces and their return to their countries.”

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.

But fierce partisan wrangling over jobs in the government
has highlighted the problems Maliki will face in simply holding
his colleagues to a common policy, once they try to implement
the bare-bones, 34-point program he presented to parliament.