The Independent, London

US threatens to cut aid to Iraq if new government is sectarian
By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor
Published: 21 February 2006

The US and Britain are pressuring Iraq's dominant Shia community to  
relinquish two key ministries in negotiations for a new government,  
as the country was hit by a wave of bombings that killed at least 24  
people.

The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, warned yesterday that  
Washington might cut aid to the Iraqis if the new government included  
sectarian politicians, pointing out that the US had spent "billions"  
in building up the police and the army.

"American taxpayers expect their money to be spent properly. We are  
not going to invest the resources of the American people into forces  
run by people who are sectarian," he said. He singled out the defence  
and interior ministries, saying they should be in the hands of people  
"who are non-sectarian, broadly acceptable and who are not tied to  
militias".

Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, flew into Baghdad last night and  
was expected to deliver a similar message. A Foreign Office spokesman  
said that while it was up to Iraqis to decide on their government  
members, "we are keen to see these two departments in the hands of  
competent people, probably technocrats".

Last week the Shia-dominated interior ministry announced an  
investigation into reports that it had been running death squads to  
wreak vengeance on Sunnis in reprisal for sectarian killings. There  
are fears that the killings by Shia commandos wearing police uniforms  
may encourage more Sunnis to join the armed insurgency.

Yesterday, in Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed 12 people and injured  
15 by setting off an explosive belt on a bus in a Shia district of  
the city, while a bomb attack killed four people near Liberation  
Square. In the Kurdish city of Mosul, a suicide attacker blew himself  
up in a restaurant packed with policemen eating breakfast, killing at  
least five people and wounding 21, including 10 policemen, officials  
said. Two more civilians died when a car bomb exploded in Madain,  
south-east of Baghdad. Eleven people were injured.

Shia leaders say they have the right to control key offices in the  
government after winning 130 of the 275 seats in parliament in the  
elections in December. But the US and Britain say the secular,  
Kurdish and Sunni communities should have a "significant voice" in a  
future government, which will be in power for the next four years,  
and are pushing for a national unity government. It is anticipated  
that the discussions, which began in earnest this week, will take  
weeks, if not months, to produce a government.

The influential young Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, for example,  
opposes the inclusion of the former prime minister Iyad Allawi, who,  
while in office, ordered the suppression of an uprising by fighters  
loyal to the Shia firebrand in the holy city of Najaf. But Mr Allawi,  
who presented a secular list in the elections, has been supported by  
the British.

The Shia's choice for Prime Minister, the incumbent Ibrahim al-
Jaafari, has come in for criticism because of his ineffectiveness in  
the outgoing government. He acknowledged yesterday that there had  
been "objections" to his candidacy, but challenged those opposed to  
him to state their reasons. He added that the formation of a new  
government faced "obstacles," but not insurmountable ones.

Mr Straw is in Baghdad to help the process along, and will have talks  
with leaders who are struggling to set aside their sectarian bias to  
form a government.

Britain's relations with Iraq have been complicated by the latest  
video apparently showing British troops abusing Iraqis during a riot  
in southern Iraq, which has prompted two councils in southern Iraq to  
end co-operation with British forces. Mr Straw is expected to discuss  
the fallout with officials and British military commanders, although  
British diplomats pointed out that the Iraqi police in the south were  
still co-operating with the British.

The prospects for a withdrawal of British troops is also expected to  
be discussed by Mr Straw.

Failure to establish a unity government that includes a strong role  
for Sunnis would fail to undermine the Sunni-dominated insurgency and  
could delay plans for a phased withdrawal of the 138,000 American  
troops and the 8,000 British soldiers in Iraq.