[Independent] US threatens to cut off aid if new Iraqi government it created is sectrarian

[MGGPillai]

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.

© 2006 Independent News and Media Limited