US Defense Secretary Urges Iraq Leaders to Reconcile Shi'ites, Sunnis
20 April 2007
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has stressed that the U.S. commitment to Iraq is long-term, but that military support is not open-ended.
Gates was speaking in Baghdad Monday after meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki about the country's security situation.
Gates said he urged Mr. Maliki to reconcile Iraq's Shi'ite and Sunni communities. He said progress on the matter will be an important element in the U.S. evaluation of how successful the recent security crackdown in Baghdad has been.
The U.S. defense secretary arrived in Iraq Thursday on an unannounced visit and met with U.S. commanders in Fallujah.
In southwestern Baghdad Friday, the U.S. military said soldiers killed two gunmen after a patrol came under fire from a mosque.
In another development, U.S. military officials said a rocket attack killed an American solider at a military base at Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad Thursday.
Iraqi officials also said gunmen attacked the convoy of the son of powerful Iraqi Shi'ite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim Thursday, wounding six security personnel.
A top U.S. military officer says a new effort to break suicide bomb networks in Iraq has revealed that Iranian intelligence services are helping Sunni insurgents.
Major General Michael Barbero said Thursday in Washington the disclosure came from Iranian detainees in American custody. He also said U.S. forces have discovered munitions made in Iran in largely Sunni Baghdad neighborhoods.
The general said Iran shares the goals of Sunni insurgents, to destabilize Iraq and tie down U.S. forces.
The U.S. military also has accused Iranian intelligence agents of supporting Shi'ite extremists in Iraq.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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