A Draw in Iraq
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki seems to have settled for a draw in Basra, in what amounts to a blow for his credibility following the ultimatums he issued last week and by extension a serious setback for Washington's efforts to promote the idea of a more autonomous government in Baghdad. Weekend fighting in the southern city hadn't been going well for Mr. Maliki -- one of his top security officials was killed in a mortar attack in the Basra palace while directing the government operations -- before he apparently reached a deal with Moqtada al Sadr, the anti-U.S. cleric whose Mahdi Army militia was targeted in Basra and responded with its own attacks in Baghdad. Mr. Sadr called for his followers to walk away from the battles, but he also demanded that the government halt its "illegal and haphazard raids'' and free Sadrists who have been detained. While the government welcomed Mr. Sadr's statement, he didn't ask Mahdi Army members to disarm -- the goal of Mr. Maliki's threats last week and a development that suggests yet another showdown with Mr. Sadr looms some time in the future.
But the current conflict isn't even over, which may be a sign of how much direct control Mr. Sadr retains over the fractious Mahdi Army. Maliki adviser Sami al-Askari tells the Associated Press today that military operations in Basra will wrap up this week, and that Mr. Maliki planned to return to Baghdad despite his vow to stay in Basra until militias there are defeated. In the capital, rockets continued to fall on the Green Zone, and a witness tells the Agence France Presse that five people were injured, including two U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi Army major. That account wasn't confirmed by other news agencies. Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, has said the rockets are "Iranian-provided, Iranian-made rockets," the AFP notes. But Iran was also instrumental in negotiating the government-Sadr truce. Iraqi lawmakers tell USA Today that the commander of Iran's al-Quds Brigade -- considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government -- brokered an agreement between representatives of Mr. Sadr and Mr. Maliki's Dawa party during talks in Iran. A senior adviser to Mr. Maliki declined to confirm or deny the Iranian involvement, but a Dawa legislator close to the prime minister said Iranians played a role. |
