Iraqi Leaders Urge Calm, Promise Justice
Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders called on Sunday for an end to Iraq's sectarian conflict and vowed to track down those responsible for the war's deadliest attack.
But as they spoke on national television in an effort to keep Iraq from sliding into an all-out civil war, fierce fighting between Iraqi security forces and Sunni-Arab insurgents raged for a second day in Baqouba, the capital of Diyala province north of Baghdad.
By the end of the day, the province's latest casualty figures were a microcosm of the brutality that Iraq faces: 17 insurgents killed, 15 detained, 20 civilians kidnapped, three bodies found, one U.S. Marine killed and two wounded. The mayor of a municipality also narrowly escaped an assassination attempt that killed one of his guards and wounded three.
During Saturday's fighting in Baqouba, police had killed at least 36 insurgents and wounded dozens after scores of militants armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked government buildings in the center of the city, police said. The fighting raged for hours in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.
On Sunday government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh read a statement on national television promising that Iraq's leaders would track down those responsible for the war's deadliest attack by insurgents, and urged the country's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish politicians to stop fanning sectarian violence by arguing with one another. As he spoke, Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Sunni Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and Kurdish President Jalal Talabani stood around him.
"We promise the great martyrs that we will chase the killers and criminals, the terrorists, Saddamists and Takfiri (Sunni extremists) for viciously trying to divide you," the statement said, referring to the 215 people who died when Sunni insurgents attacked Sadr City, the capital's main Shiite district, on Thursday.
Al-Maliki also urged his national unity government of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds to curb the sectarian violence by stopping their public disputes.
"The crisis is political, and it is the politicians who must try to prevent more violence and bloodletting. The terrorist acts are a reflection of the lack of political accord," he said, after meeting with al-Mashhadani, Talabani and other members of Iraq's Political Council for National Security for a third day to discuss Iraq's crisis.
Al-Maliki is facing strong criticism from top Shiite and Sunni Arab leaders alike as he prepares for a summit meeting in neighboring Jordan with President Bush next week.
Shiite politicians loyal to the radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have threatened to boycott parliament and the Cabinet if al-Maliki goes ahead with the planned summit on Wednesday and Thursday. The political bloc, known as Sadrists, is a mainstay of support for al-Maliki. The White House has said the meeting is still on.
In other developments:
"We could possibly imagine going into 2007 and having three civil wars on our hands," he said, citing conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon and the decades-long strife between the Palestinians and Israelis.
Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Abdullah said he remained hopeful a summit he will host this week in Amman with President Bush and the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, will somehow lower the sectarian violence that threatens to push Iraq into all-out civil war.
On Saturday, Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obaidi; Gen. George Casey, Iraq's top U.S. commander in Iraq; and other officials met and decided to fire Diyala's police commander, saying he was unable to stop infiltration of the force by Sunni insurgents, two officials said on condition of anonymity.
One U.S. soldier was killed in Diyala on Saturday by a roadside bomb, the military said. That same day, two U.S. Marines were killed in Anbar province, the area of western Iraq where many Sunni-insurgent groups are based.
One of the main challenges that U.S. and British forces face in recruiting and training Iraqi military and police forces is that soldiers and police often are attacked by insurgents and militias fighting the coalition. Militants and militias also have infiltrated some security forces to kill and kidnap in disguise.
In Baghdad, some Iraqis went shopping at local vegetable and fruit markets Sunday after being confined to their homes for two full days. The markets often had only limited supplies since the curfew also banned vehicles and all commercial flights at Baghdad International Airport.
"The situation is better today because we can finally get out and buy food for the first time in two days," said Hussein Fadel, a Shiite civil servant, as he shopped in Sadr City, where Muslim memorial services were still being held for people killed in Thursday's attack. "I hope the city is less tense today."
No fighting was reported in the capital on Sunday morning, but several explosions occurred in central Baghdad near the Green Zone, where Iraq's government and the U.S. and British embassies are based. One sent up a large cloud of black smoke on the opposite side of the Tigris River, but no casualties were immediately reported.
The curfew's traffic ban remained in place, and the capital's streets were empty of all cars and trucks, except those being driven by Iraqi and U.S. security forces.
Elsewhere, a suicide car bomber slammed into an Iraqi police checkpoint on a highway near a Sunni mosque in Mahmoudiya city Sunday morning, killing five policemen and wounding 23, said police Capt. Muthanna Khalid Ali. The city of Shiites and Sunnis is about 20 miles south of Baghdad.