Iraq 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, blasts hit Baghdad, including one suicide
bomber who killed at least 13 people and wounded 18 in a
crowded restaurant popular with police. Police and civilians
were among the dead.

A day after Maliki formed a cabinet of Shi’ites, minority
Sunni Arabs and Kurds to ease violence and consolidate a U.S.-
piloted transition to democracy, President Bush on Sunday said
the new government marked a “new day for the millions of Iraqis
who want to live in freedom.”

Bush, whose approval ratings have fallen to near lows
partly on growing public discontent over a war he launched
three years ago to remove Saddam Hussein, said he had called
Maliki and other Iraqi leaders to congratulate them.

Briefing reporters after the cabinet met in Baghdad,
Maliki, a tough-talking Shi’ite Islamist, said 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.

“We will use maximum force against terrorism, but we also
need a national initiative,” he said in reference to previous
calls for “national reconciliation” among all Iraqis.

“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.

THOUSANDS FLEE HOMES

Besides dealing with violence that has forced tens of
thousands to flee their homes and dumps hundreds of bodies in
Baghdad alone every month, Maliki’s strongman approach to
Iraq’s 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 complete rebuilding Iraq’s U.S.-trained armed forces so that
foreign troops could leave within an “objective timetable.”

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 two to three days.

Khalilzad, a key power broker behind the scenes, said the
formation of the government, with crucial involvement from
Saddam’s once dominant fellow Sunnis, brought 130,000 American
troops suffering almost daily casualties 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.”

THORNY ISSUES AHEAD

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.

Boding ill for hopes to win over the disaffected Sunni
minority, about a dozen Sunni legislators walked out of
parliament on Saturday before Maliki was sworn in. Most Sunni
leaders, including Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi and Deputy
Prime Minister Salam al-Zobaie held firm, however.

Reflecting widespread wariness among Sunnis for the
political process, Jamal al-Falluja, a student in the insurgent
stronghold of Falluja said: “This is not a national unity
government. Sectarianism and personal interest have prevailed.”

(Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl and Mariam Karouny in
Baghdad and Tabassum Zakaria in Washington)