Earlier today Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki extended an olive branch to Arab Sunni insurgents, while at the same time promising a security crackdown if his invitation is spurned.
Speaking at a conference aimed at speeding up reconciliation among Iraq's warring factions, Maliki said political consensus could be achieved only if Iraq was stable.
Maliki has been pleased with the early results of a U.S.- backed security crackdown in Baghdad called Operation Imposing Law. The offensive has reduced sectarian death squad killings although car bombings are still common. American commanders say it will take months to see concrete results.
"We do not need to implement security measures except against those who reject the language of reconciliation and dialogue, those who insist on restoring the past," Maliki said, in a reference to Sunni Arab insurgents loyal to Saddam Hussein.
"We present in our hand a green olive branch, and in the other hand we present the law ... Operation Imposing Law started in Baghdad, it will cover every inch of Iraq."
According to the Washington Times there is a reshuffle of the Maliki cabinet in the works, along with the prosecution of political figures with links to extremists.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, is under pressure from Washington to take a stronger stand against Sunni insurgents, as well as a Shi'ite militia that forms part of his power base.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Mr. al-Maliki said he will reshuffle his 39-seat Cabinet "either this week or next" and pursue criminal charges against political figures -- and even members of parliament -- linked to extremists.
He said there has been coordination between Iraqi and multinational forces from the beginning of the year "to determine who should be arrested and the reasons behind arresting them."
The prime minister did not say how many Cabinet members would be replaced, but some officials said about nine would lose their jobs, including all six Cabinet members loyal to radical anti-American Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who leads the powerful Mahdi's Army militia.
U.S. officials had been urging Mr. al-Maliki to cut his ties to Sheik al-Sadr and form a new alliance of mainstream Shi'ites, moderate Sunnis and Kurds.
Mr. al-Maliki has won some breathing room in recent days with a notable -- but perhaps temporary -- drop in bloodshed in Baghdad. It comes as a U.S.-led security crackdown concentrates on areas considered staging grounds for Sunni insurgent car bombs and mortar attacks.
The Mahdi's Army also was strong-armed by Mr. al-Maliki to pull back. Its suspected death squads once left dozens of Sunni victims around the city -- a figure that has fallen off significantly.
Last month in an ultimatim to militants in Kerbala - disarm in 48 hours or face consequences - Maliki warned that he considered corruption a crime on a par with terrorism.
Al-Maliki who's been on a tour in the mid-southern region announced the beginning of the operation from Kerbala. This choice I think delivers two messages; first it looks that Maliki was trying to show that the plan is solid enough and could go on without his immediate supervision and presence in Baghdad and that the military commanders are operating without interference from politicians. And second I think he wanted to say that even though the focus has been in Baghdad for months, the situation elsewhere was not ignored; and this part could be seen in the tough-worded warnings he made to local officials and militants alike.
First he gave militants in Kerbala 48 hours to disarm or face the consequences and then turned to the local officials and told them if they couldn't do their job right they'd better step down and let someone better take their place.
The Kerbala provincial administration's reputation isn't quite impressive when it comes to corruption and involvement in violence and Maliki didn't forget to give a stern warning against corruption calling corruption a crime just as serious as terrorism.
Maybe we can take today's news as confirmation that al Maliki is serious in his intentions to fight corruption. At the moment he seems to be in control.
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Posted by: LIMEWIRE | September 15, 2007 at 05:11 AM