• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Rice says Maliki is good choice

Posted on: Saturday, 22 April 2006, 11:49 CDT

By Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Saturday the announcement that Jawad al-Maliki had been asked to head Iraq's government was an "important milestone" and the Shi'ite politician was someone the United States could work with.

"This is a good day for Iraq. It is an important day for Iraq," said Rice in a conference call with reporters.

"This is someone with whom we can work and we are looking forward to working with him," added Rice, who personally traveled to Iraq this month to try and break the deadlock in forming Iraq's first full-term government since U.S. forces toppled Saddam Hussein.

"There is finally going to be a permanent Iraqi government," said Rice.

Rice said she had not met personally with Maliki but he was thought to be a strong figure capable of getting things done. She described him as an "Iraqi patriot" who was concerned with Iraq's sovereignty.

Maliki, an official in Iraq's oldest Islamist party, now has one month to form a cabinet and put it to a vote. He has sought to shake off his hardline Shi'ite image and present himself as a man capable of uniting Shi'ites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.

Rice said there was much work ahead to get the rest of the Iraqi cabinet in place and the new government would have to tackle the security situation, particularly in Baghdad.

"It's a long list but obviously the security situation will be key," she said.

Another priority would be to have a Ministry of Interior the Iraqi people had confidence in and which was filled with people who were nonsectarian. The Interior Ministry has been accused of fomenting the sectarian violence that has peaked in recent months.

She said the United States would work hard to ensure that the Iraqi ministries became more capable and that oil production stayed at a level that could support the new government's budgetary needs.

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category