Maliki says era of US Iraq dominance is over

[eju]

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Maliki says era of US Iraq dominance is over
Posted: 11 February 2009 0057 hrs



BAGHDAD: Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Tuesday that the era of US dominance in Iraq was over, in a broadside to Washington almost six years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

The Shiite premier, boosted by the strong showing of his allies in provincial elections, said Iraq was now taking charge of its own destiny and was making good progress towards rebuilding the war-torn country.

His remarks were a pointed rebuke to US Vice President Joe Biden, who last week said Washington would have to be "more aggressive" in pushing Baghdad towards faster political reform.

"The time for putting pressure on Iraq is over," Maliki told reporters when asked about Biden's comments.

"The Iraqi government knows what are its responsibilities. We are carrying out reform and we are in the last step of the reconciliation."

Biden said the January 31 provincial elections - in which Maliki's allies triumphed - had shown that progress was being made, but more needed to be done as Iraq's leaders had not "gotten their political arrangements together yet."

The new US administration of President Barack Obama would have to be "much more aggressive... forcing them to deal with those issues," Biden said.

But Maliki insisted: "If there are demands for political reforms, it is up to the government, the Iraqi parliament and political forces.

"It was we who took the initiative for national reconciliation, and we have stated that without national reconciliation there will be no security in the country."

Maliki's remarks were a strong signal ahead of a parliamentary election due to be held in about a year that he is unwilling to allow the United States to dictate how Iraq should rebuild and consolidate its fledgling democracy.

"We succeeded in solving problems created by Paul Bremer (head of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority put in place after the 2003 invasion), like the dismantling of the army and other institutions," the prime minister added, in another dig at the history of America's influence in Iraq.

Just over half of Iraqis voted in the largely trouble-free provincial elections, which were seen as a vital test of the country's progress since the invasion.

Candidates backed by Maliki dominated in Baghdad and in eight of the country's nine other Shiite-majority provinces, in a huge vote of confidence for the premier, whose standing has steadily grown at home and abroad in the past year.

The election was widely seen as a referendum on Maliki's performance as premier, and was praised as a vital step forward by world leaders including Obama.

Maliki's comments at a joint press conference with visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy came at a time when Obama is eager to pull thousands of troops out of Iraq and redeploy them to Afghanistan.

Obama regards Afghanistan, where US military commanders and diplomats say security has deteriorated, as the frontline of the war against Al-Qaeda and other militant forces.

Maliki's standing has grown in the past 12 months as he has presented a secular national agenda in response to the sectarianism that brought the country to the brink of civil war in 2007.

Last year he won plaudits for taking a tough stance in negotiations over a key security agreement with Washington that will see US troops leave the country by the end of 2011.

He also ordered Iraqi forces in 2008 to take on Shiite militiamen in hotspots such as the provinces of Basra, Maysan and Diyala as well as the Baghdad Shiite district of Sadr City. - AFP/de

[lumburg]

good, lets let them fight their own battles and hopefully they do what they say the us didnt

[ikaotiki]

good, lets let them fight their own battles and hopefully they do what they say the us didnt

agreed