27 May 2004
Coalition Provisional Authority Report, May 27: Iraq Update
CPA officials view new al-Sadr commitments positively
U.S. civilian and military officials in Baghdad responded with cautious optimism to a letter from Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to Shi'ite leaders in the Iraqi Governing Council designed to reduce tensions and violence in Kufa and Najaf.
Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) spokesman Dan Senor told reporters attending the May 27 briefing, "We are hopeful that Muqtada al-Sadr will live up to the commitments he made in this letter."
Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak Rubaie announced the details of the letter May 27. It indicates that al-Sadr's militia members will end street patrols, evacuate government buildings, and ensure that any militia who are not from Najaf will leave the city. Senor said the letter paves the way for Iraqi police and the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC) to resume patrols and their law-enforcement responsibilities.
Senor said the letter is not an agreement. He also said the coalition was not involved in its preparation but was aware of the discussions that brought it about.
"We are pleased that Iraqis are working with Iraqis" to achieve a solution to the al-Sadr situation, the spokesman said. "We're pleased that this was taken at the initiative of Iraqis."
Senor said this latest development is seen by CPA officials as "a very positive step, not only for the moment, but for what it bodes potentially for Iraq post-June 30th, because what we're seeing here are Iraqis stepping forward and engaging Muqtada al-Sadr to try and reach a peaceful resolution."
While the letter is a serious effort to resolve tensions, Senor said, "we are now going to monitor closely to see whether or not" positive and constructive action will follow.
Senor said the coalition has not changed its position on the need for al-Sadr to dismantle his Mahdi militia and respond to his indictment by an Iraqi investigative judge for his alleged involvement in the murder of a cleric.
The spokesman also said that once Iraqi security forces have resumed their responsibilities, "coalition forces will reposition to their bases outside Najaf, while maintaining protective units" at CPA offices, government buildings and Iraqi police stations."
Until then, the spokesman said, "coalition forces will suspend offensive operations, but will continue to provide security by carrying out presence patrols." At all times, Senor said, they will retain their right to self-defense.
He also said that additional Iraqi security forces might be needed in the region and that "urgent recruitment, training and deputization of tribal elements may occur to bolster the capabilities of the limited policy and ICDC forces currently available."
Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of operations for the Multinational Force in Iraq, answered various questions about Iraqi security in the wake of the announcement about al-Sadr's letter. "We don't want to create a security vacuum," he said. "We're not going to withdraw. We're going to reposition our forces," the military spokesman added.
Pressed on the issue of security in Iraq, Kimmitt said it will be achieved "when all Iraqis come together ... to make this country secure."
Kimmitt also answered questions about a program designed to compensate innocent civilians caught up in violent exchanges in Iraq. Those individuals in Najaf, Karbala and elsewhere "certainly have the same authority to submit those claims for compensation the way they have in any part of the country," he said. So far, more than $2.5 million has been paid out on some 12,000 claims.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=May&x=20040527162844sjhtrop0.9385797&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html
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