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Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basin Ôzeti
Associated Press
Shiite leader defends Iran; bill to ease curbs
on Saddam loyalists draws fire
November 25. 2007 Bv Sameer N. Yacoub Associated Press Writer
BAGHDADIraq's most influential Shiite politician said Sunday that the tada al-Sadr began pounding their fists on their tables in protest.
U.S had not backed up claims that Iran is fueling violence here, undersco¬
ring a wide gap on the issue between Washington and the Shiite-led Bagh¬
dad government.
"This law is unconstitutional and moreover, it worries about the future of
the Baathists while ignoring their victims who suffered a lot because of
Baath party and the regime," Nasser al-Rubaie, parliamentary' leader of
A draft bill to ease curbs on ex-Saddam Hussein loyalists in government the 30-member Sadrist bloc, told The Associated Press.
services also drew sharp criticism from Shiite lawmakers, opening old
wounds at a time when the United States is pressing the Iraqis for com¬
promise for the sake of national unity.
The prospect of rehabilitating former Baathists did not sit well with Shiite
lawmakers from other political parties. Many of them suffered terribly
under the Sunni-dominated Saddam regime.
The Americans have long accused the Iranians of arming and training
Shiite militias, including some linked to the U.S. -backed government of
Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
"This draft amounts to an unannounced general pardon by the govern¬
ment," said Safiya al-Suhail, a Shiite woman lawmaker whose father was
assassinated by Saddam's agents in Beirut in the 1990s.
U.S. officials have also alleged that Iran has provided weapons used to kill
Americans a charge the Iranians vehemently deny.
"There is no punishment for wrongdoers," she added. "The victims of the
former regime should see justice done to them. We will not accept national
"These are only accusations raised by the multinational forces and I think reconciliation at the expense ofjustice."
these accusations need more proof," Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the
Supreme Islamic Iraq Council, told reporters.
Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker, said parliament would discuss
Al-Hakim, who has been undergoing treatment for lung cancer in Iran,
said the Iranians have insisted in meetings with Iraqi officials that
"their true will is to support the Iraqi government" and to promote
stability.
"They have a long history of standing by the Iraqi people and that is
their official stance that is presented to the press without any hesita¬
tion," he said.
Al-Hakim spent years in exile in Iran during Saddam's regime and is
considered closer to the Iranians than any of the major Iraqi Shiite
leaders. His party has also closely cooperated with American authorities
since the 2003 collapse of Saddam's regime, and he has met with Presi¬
dent Bush in the Oval Office.
His comments were made ahead of a new round of talks between U.S.
and Iranian officials here over ways to promote stability in Iraq and
exploit the sharp downturn in violence since the U.S. sent 30,000
reinforcements early this year.
No date for the next U.S.-Iranian talks has been announced. The Ameri¬
cans are expected to raise concerns about Iranian influence among
Shiite armed groups, although U.S. officials have said they believe the
flow of Iranian arms has been curtailed.
This month, the U.S. military released nine Iranians who had been held
in Iraq for months. They included two accused of being members of the
elite Quds Force suspected of arming Shiite extremists.
But the U.S. military has blamed an Iranian-backed Shiite cell for a
bombing Friday in a Baghdad market that killed 15 people the dea¬
dliest attack in the heart of the capital in more than two months.
A U.S. military spokesman, Rear. Adm. Gregory Smith stressed he was
not accusing Iran of ordering the attack.
Nonetheless, Iran dismissed any suggestion that it was at fault.
"Contradictor)' reports have been heard about the bombing. But remarks
by the Americans were made with the aim of making propaganda against
Iran," Mohammad Ali Hosscini, spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry,
told reporters Sunday in Tehran.
Although major Kurdish and Shiite parties maintain ties to Iran, suspicion
of the Iranians runs deep within the country's Sunni Arab community,
including those groups that have abandoned the insurgency and agreed to
work with American forces.
Sunni fears of Iranian domination are among the obstacles standing in the
way of reconciliation among Iraq's religious and ethnic communities.
Another hurdle has been Sunni complaints that they have been marginali¬
zed politically by regulations that banned former members of Saddam's
Baath party from holding government jobs or running for public office.
The United States has been pressing the Iraqis to relax the ban to allow
thousands of lower-ranking Baathists to regain their posts.
On Sunday, parliament began debate on the latest draft bill. But the ses¬
sion adjourned after Shiite legislators loyal to anti-American cleric Muq-
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left, welcomes leader of
the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council Abdul
Aziz al
Hakim, front center, for a meeting in Tehran, Iran, seen in this
Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007, file photo. Al
Hakim, Iraq's most influential Shiite politician, disputes U.S. claims
that Iran is fomenting violence in this country, underscoring a wide
gap between Washington and Baghdad over Tehran's role. (AP
Photo)
the draft again on Wednesday.
"I think that the bill is in general a good one," Othman said. "The countryis
in dire need of national reconciliation.. .Iraqis should abandon revenge
and adopt forgiveness."
Ten people were reported killed following two bombings in the capital a
car bomb near a medical complex in Baghdad that killed nine and one in a
roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol. Nearly 40 people were
injured in the two blasts.
Still, the carnage is well below the levels of last year, when Shiite and
Sunni extremists swarmed the city, slaughtering members of the rival sect.
Ten suspected Sunni militants were killed and eight captured during a
U.S. operation against al-Qaida fighters north of Samarra, the U.S. milita¬
ry said. The fight began when U.S. soldiers came under fire Saturday as
they approached the target area, a statement said. Soldiers called for help
from an unspecified aircraft, which killed eight people. Seven others were
detained.
Hours later, soldiers in the same area saw three men inside a vehicle and
called for them to come out. One man complied and was detained. Two
others remained in the vehicle and detonated a suicide vest, which caused
the vehicle to explode in flames, killing both of them, the statement said.
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