U.S. Expects More Iraq Violence

Top General Says More Attacks Likely As New Government Forms

(CBS/AP)  All the attacks, Alston said, had an aim "to incite fear and create doubt in the people of Iraq in an attempt to suffocate progress toward a better future for Iraq."

He added that "many innocent Iraqis were undeniably targeted by terrorists. The increase in attacks across Iraq this past week clearly indicates that al Qaeda and others terrorists still have the capability to surge."

Alston denied allegations by leading Shiite politicians that the United States had restricted the ability of Iraqi security forces to deal with insurgents.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI, has both blamed hard-line Sunni groups of inciting the violence, and said the Defense and Interior ministries — both dominated by Shiites — were being restrained by the U.S-led coalition.

"I would tell you that I do not see any additional procedures that have been employed, or I should say additional restrictions or additional requirements that have been levied on the Iraqi security forces that would tie their hands," Alston said.

But he did say that "we have always had coordinating instructions with the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Defense. As the situation changes and they grow in capability those policies are re-evaluated in order for us to be as effective and for them to be as effective as we possibly can."

Sunni Arabs have complained that often brutal methods used by Interior Ministry forces have already pushed Iraq to the brink of sectarian war. Hundreds of abused prisoners have recently been discovered, mostly in prisons operated by the Interior Ministry — prompting complaints from U.S. officials.

SCIRI and its former military wing, the Badr Bridage militia, last week hinted they would carry out reprisals if the violence did not stop. Although the insurgency is dominated by Sunni Arabs, much of the violence since the elections has been claimed by Jordanian-born terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq.

Alston said al-Zarqawi's bloody tactics were alienating him from the homegrown insurgency.

"We have not seen sustained collaboration between Zarqawi's elements and other elements in Iraq. We have seen occasional marriages of convenience for limited objectives," Alston said. "But Zarqawi has fewer and fewer friends in Iraq."

Alston said that al-Zarqawi's targeting of civilians was turning "the people of Iraq against his cause."

Also Thursday, Saleh al-Mutlaq, head of the Sunni Arab National Dialogue Front, objected to remarks by a Shiite leader suggesting that the new constitution would not be changed.

Al-Mutlaq said the minority Sunni Arabs were persuaded to participate in the elections by the provision that allows Iraq's constitution to be amended during the first four months of the new government.

Shiite politician Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq — warned Wednesday that his governing religious bloc would not allow substantive changes to the constitution, including the provision that leaves provincial governments strong and the central government weak.

"We have a group of established principles which we will never give up. Any coalition should be based on these principles," he said. "The first principle is not to change the essence of the constitution. This constitution was endorsed by the Iraqi people."

A key Sunni demand is weaker federalism and a stronger central government. The constitution now gives most power — including control over oil profits — to provincial governments. The Shiites in the south and the Kurds in the north control nearly all of Iraq's oil, while Sunni Arab areas have little.

"If they do not accept key amendments to the country's new constitution, including the regions issue, then let them work alone and divide the country, as for us we do not accept this," al-Mutlaq told The Associated Press by phone from Amman, Jordan.

Al-Mutlaq is the country's third most powerful Sunni Arab politician. Adnan al-Dulaimi and Tarek al-Hashimi, the two main leaders of the Sunni Arab Iraqi Accordance Front, hadn't yet responded to Hakim's declaration.