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| Iraq |
| Iraqi Cabinet Shakeup in 2 Weeks, Criminal Trials to Follow |
| 2007-03-03 |
| Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday he will reshuffle his Cabinet within two weeks and pursue criminal charges against political figures linked to extremists as a sign of his government's resolve to restore stability during the U.S.-led security crackdown in Baghdad. Al-Maliki has been under pressure from the U.S. to bring order into his factious government of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds since it took office last May. Rumors of Cabinet changes have surfaced before, only to disappear because of pressure from coalition members seeking to keep power. U.S. officials had been urging al-Maliki to cut his ties to al-Sadr and form a new alliance of mainstream Shiites, moderate Sunnis and Kurds. Al-Maliki had been stalling, presumably at the urging of the powerful Shiite clerical hierarchy that wants to maintain Shiite unity. But pressure for change has mounted since President Bush ordered 21,500 U.S. troops to Iraq in January. Five senior Iraqis - two of them generals and three from Shiite and Sunni parties - have told the AP that up to 100 prominent figures could face legal proceedings. The five spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the subject to the media. All five had direct knowledge of the case review. After the changes are announced, al-Maliki said he would undertake a "change in the ministerial structure," presumably consolidating and streamlining the 39-member Cabinet. 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 Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, an al-Maliki ally. Al-Sadr also controls 30 of the 275 parliament seats, and his support for al-Maliki has been responsible for the government's reluctance to crack down on the cleric's Mahdi Army militia, blamed for much of the Shiite-Sunni slaughter of the past year. U.S. officials have said privately that a number of prominent Iraqis were believed to have ties to armed groups. Additionally, U.S. military officials have expressed concern over alleged Iranian weapons shipments and financial support to Shiite parties allied with al-Maliki. One Shiite parliament member, Jamal Jaafar Mohammed, is believed to have fled to Iran after U.S. authorities learned that he was convicted by a Kuwaiti court in absentia and sentenced to death in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. and French embassies in Kuwait. Mohammed fled Kuwait for Iran before he could be arrested and returned after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. U.S. officials have alleged he was a conduit for Iranian weapons and supplies smuggled to Shiite militias. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #2 Either that or he was eavesdropping on Cheney's conversation with the Perv. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-03-03 22:29 |
| #1 When GWBush said Maliki was the right man, I thought he was being polite. It looks like Maliki may be tougher and smarter than anyone thought and may pull this thing out. |
| Posted by: whatadeal 2007-03-03 22:26 |