NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

U.S. Ambassador Anticipates New Iraqi Government in Near Future

Khalilzad says U.S., Iraq developing plan for demobilizing militias

Iraqi leaders are continuing to negotiate intensively on the formation of a government of national unity and should be able to resolve the issue of the prime minister within the next several days, according to U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad.

Speaking from Baghdad on two television news shows April 9, Khalilzad stressed that Iraqi leaders have already made substantial progress on the program and decision-making procedures for the new government but are still working out its composition.

"What we want is a good government, not a government as soon as possible," Khalilzad said on Fox News Sunday. Nevertheless, he warned, both the Iraqi people and the international community "are losing patience," and the leaders must be pressed to reach the decisions necessary for the formation of a unity government.

Asked on CNN's Late Edition about the current prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Khalilzad pointed out that the Iraqi constitution requires two steps for the naming of a prime minister. The first is a nomination by the largest political bloc in parliament, which currently is the Shia-led United Iraqi Alliance. The second step is two-thirds approval by the parliament, requiring the support of other political factions. So far, Khalilzad said, these other political groupings have refused to support al-Jaafari.

The Iraqis are right in the middle of intensive negotiations, Khalilzad said on Fox News Sunday. "I think in the next two to three days it's likely to be clarified."

Khalilzad acknowledged on CNN's Late Edition that sectarian tension and conflict have increased since the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra, but he denied that Iraq is falling into civil war.

"The terrorists, the Zarqawi group, would like to provoke a civil war," he said. "But I believe that the Iraqi leaders, such as Ayatollah Sistani and other leaders from [the] Sunni community or others, do not want a civil war."

On the contrary, Khalilzad said, government institutions are holding together, and Iraqi leaders are at the table, working across ethnic and sectarian lines to form a government of national unity.

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Khalilzad said that sectarian violence would spread to the larger Middle East only if the United States and the coalition abandon Iraq. He added that such an "increase in sectarian violence could bring in countries from the region, Iran and others, to take side and therefore could expand the conflict."

Khalilzad said on CNN's Late Edition that the United States and Iraq are undertaking "serious preparatory work" for a plan to decommission, demobilize and reintegrate militias and other unauthorized military formations into Iraq's security forces and civil society.

The program could be similar to one conducted in Afghanistan, where Khalilzad previously served as U.S. ambassador.

The decommissioning must be done in a balanced way, so that no group feels vulnerable or disadvantage, he observed. Nevertheless, Khalilzad said, "Ultimately, all militias, all unauthorized military formations have to be decommissioned, demobilized. And their individuals have to be reintegrated into the security forces or into the society at large."

Source: U.S. Department of State