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| Iraq's Sadr Political Bloc Ends Boycott |
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The political group of Iraq's radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has ended its boycott in the parliament and government, Iraqi parliament speaker announced on Sunday. The announcement came amid the arrival of about 3,200 additional American troops in Baghdad to help quell raging sectarian violence on the ground. The demands of Sadr's bloc concentrated on that the government declare a timetable for training Iraqi forces and that the mandate for occupation troops not be renewed without consulting the parliament, Mashhadani told reporters. Hassan Shnieshil, head of Sadr's bloc, also said at the news conference, "We declare that we are rejoining the parliament and the government, because we want to achieve full sovereignty and stability for our country." Meanwhile, another member of Sadr's bloc Bahaa al-Araji said that "We declare that we will attend the parliament session today, since there has been a response to our demands." Two days ago, US and Iraqi troops detained Sheikh Abdul Hadial-Darraji, the media director of Sadr office in Baghdad, during a raid on a Shiite mosque in Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Baladiyat. The group, a key ally of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki which has 32 seats in the 275-member parliament, had suspended its participation in the national assembly since Nov. 29 of 2006. It announced the boycott to press their demand for a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and to protest against a meeting between Maliki and US President George W. Bush in Amman, capital of Jordan on Nov. 30. Currently, the current Iraqi government is too weak to standalone without US support. But in the meantime, the crucial votes controlled by Sadr's bloc secured Maliki's post of prime minister. For both reasons, either asking Americans to leave or cracking down on Sadr's militia are difficult dilemma for the beleaguered Maliki. Meanwhile, the US military said on Sunday that about 3,200 new American troops arrived in Baghdad to support the upcoming security plan to curb violence in the Iraqi capital. The mission of the new US troops will be to "assist Iraqi Security Forces to clear, control and retain key areas of the capital city in order to reduce violence and to set the conditions for a transition to full Iraqi control of security in the city." US President George W. Bush has pledged to send additional 21,500 soldiers to beef up security in Iraq, most of them to Baghdad, an effort seen as his last bet to change the course in Iraq. But Bush's new Iraq strategy has aroused wide-scale skepticism both in America and Iraq, since the numerous security plans proposed in the post-war period have all failed. Opponents of the plan in US also argue that more troops will result in a higher casualties. So far, US military death toll in Iraq has topped 3,051 since the war began in March 2003 as American forces on Saturday witnessed the bloodiest day in two years, with at least 24servicemen being killed. A US Blackhawk helicopter went down northeast of Baghdad at approximately 3:00 PM (12:00 GMT) on Saturday, killing all 12 onboard. Five US soldiers were killed and three others wounded late Saturday when militiamen attacked the liaison office of Iraqi and Coalition troops in Karbala province south of Baghdad. In the volatile al-Anbar province, four American soldiers and one Marine were killed in separate incidents on Saturday. Another two US soldiers were killed in separate attacks in the provinces of al-Anbar and Nineveh on Saturday. (Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2007) |
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