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Politics

Political wrangling slows Iraqi progress

Despite mounting U.S. pressure, key legislation remains unfinished or held up.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS and TIMES WIRES
Published March 12, 2007

BAGHDAD - Iraq's fragmented leadership is struggling to meet the major benchmarks it has pledged to the United States to achieve soon, with political wrangling and a chaotic legislature standing in the way.

The issue took on new urgency last week when House Democrats drafted legislation that would require President Bush to certify by July 1 and again by Oct. 1 whether the Iraqi government is making progress on security, an oil plan and constitutional amendments.

Even if the Democratic proposals never make it through Congress, pressure is mounting for the Iraqis to meet a timetable or risk losing U.S. troops and support.

But the Iraqis face a host of stumbling blocks that go to the heart of the crisis.

And recent talk of changes in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government may just increase the paralysis as groups maneuver for power.

Iraq missed the Dec. 31 target to enact laws establishing provincial elections, regulating distribution of the country's oil wealth and reversing measures that have excluded many Sunnis from jobs and government positions because they belonged to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.

The United States is also pushing for constitutional amendments to remove articles that the Sunnis believe discriminate in favor of the Shiites and Kurds.

U.S. officials also want Iraqis to pass a bill to set new elections for provincial governments to encourage greater public participation at the grass roots level.

So far, the only success has been a new oil law, which Maliki's Cabinet endorsed on Feb. 26 and sent to Parliament for approval. Leaders of all main political blocs have pledged to support the bill, which lays down rules for negotiating contracts and distributing the revenue among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

But Parliament has not taken up the measure, and the deputy speaker told the Associated Press that the draft may have to be sent back to the Cabinet because Maliki's staff skipped some legal steps in endorsing it the first time.

Likewise, the bill on provincial elections is bogged down in procedural matters. The measure is designed to remedy problems caused when the Sunnis boycotted the January 2005 election, in which provincial councils were chosen. That resulted in Shiites winning power in some areas with Sunni majorities. Shiite lawmakers are not anxious to give up those gains.

Legislation to relax the ban on former Baath Party members holding government jobs or elective office faces an even tougher road.

Shiites and Kurds, who suffered the most under Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime, are reluctant to reinstate thousands of members of the party responsible.

The ban effectively deprives thousands of former Baath members of a livelihood. Many are Sunnis, and the Unites States believes the current rules are driving Sunnis into the insurgency.

A Baghdad security operation now under way may also have complicated things.

Maliki, under U.S. pressure to rein in Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, has moved to reduce Sadr's influence in his government. Maliki's announcement of an imminent Cabinet reshuffle has set off a new round of power plays that could slow the legislative process and make approval of benchmarks hostage to promises of power or patronage.

At least 32 die when car bomb hits pilgrims

BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber barreled into a flatbed truck packed with Shiite pilgrims Sunday, touching off a giant fireball that left charred bodies strewn through a street in the heart of Baghdad. At least 32 people were killed. The ambush-style attack showed suspected Sunni insurgents again taking aim at the millions of worshipers who traveled to the holy city of Karbala and are now heading home. Blasts killed at least 15 others in Baghdad. Outside the capital, Sunni extremists attacked Shiites and set about 30 houses on fire around Muqdadiyah, forcing dozens of families to flee, officials said.

Also Sunday

U.S. deaths: The military reported three soldiers killed. One was killed by a roadside bomb southwest of the capital, while another died in combat and the third was killed in an unspecified "noncombat incident."

Talks: Iran said an international conference in Baghdad where it held direct talks with the United States for the first time in years was a constructive "first step" toward restoring stability to the neighboring country. Iran's Foreign Ministry also said the country hoped a proposed followup meeting would be successful. President Bush said during his visit to Colombia that Iran and Syria need to follow through on pledges to help Iraq, and he left the door open to additional contacts.

British troops: Wounded troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are receiving inadequate medical treatment similar to that reported by American veterans, relatives and British media reported.

[Last modified March 12, 2007, 07:46:16]