IRAQ: US military spokesman says Iraqi government continues to face threat from foreign and extremist elements

The U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, Major General William Caldwell, said on Monday (November 20) that the Iraqi government continued to face a threat from "foreign and extremist elements who seek to undermine both stability and reconciliation." "Those who seek to derail the political process in Iraq remain active. The more the government of Iraq asserts its authority as a legitimate representative of the Iraqi people the greater the threat from foreign and extremist elements who seek to undermine both stability and reconciliation," Caldwell told reporters in Baghdad. Caldwell said public confidence in the Iraqi police was "slowly rising" but added that Iraqi security forces required "continued reforms" by the Ministry of Interior. "Iraq security forces must be able to enforce the rule of law in an unbiased manner and be free from interference of illegal armed groups and sectarian militias. Public confidence in the Iraqi police is slowly rising but (the police) will require continued reforms by the Ministry of Interior," he said. Coldwell said up to 100 foreign fighters cross into Iraq from Syria every month. Syria's foreign minister held talks with Iraqi leaders on Monday to pledge his country's help in tackling insurgents. U.S. and Iraqi officials have long accused Damascus of doing little to stem the flow of Islamist fighters and weapons across the long, porous border. Syrian officials say sealing the border is impossible and Iraq must do more to patrol its side. "I know that the government of Iraq is talking with Syria, specifically,I know this is one of the things I know they are addressing with them, is what steps or measures the Syrian government may be able to take - from its airport location, where they might come in through - to other activities they could do help stem that flow of foreign fighters from coming into Iraq to begin with," Caldwell said. He said U.S. and Iraqi soldiers had killed 425 foreign fighters so far this year and captured 670. Twenty percent of them were Syrian, a similar percentage Egyptian, and most of the rest from Sudan and Saudi Arabia. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem met Iraqi officials including Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on the second day of a landmark visit. Iraq and Syria severed ties when Syria sided with Iran during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. Moualem pledged Syria's cooperation in tackling violence that has raised the spectre of civil war, saying it was prepared to work "hand in hand to achieve the security of brother Iraq". It was the first time a Syrian minister had visited Iraq since the 2003 invasion and is a rare visit by any senior Arab official. There has been increased talk of diplomatic efforts to involve neighbouring Syria and Iran in helping to end the violence ravaging Iraq. An official in Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's office said he had accepted an invitation from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit Tehran this weekend. In Damascus a Syrian official with knowledge of the president's schedule, asked whether President Bashar al-Assad would join the two other leaders in Tehran as some media have reported, said "There are no plans for such a (tripartite) summit." Iran pledged its support for Iraq's government when Maliki visited in September. He received similar pledges during recent visits to neighbouring Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab Gulf states, who view the Shi'ite-led government with suspicion. U.S. President George W. Bush's allies have urged him recently to open the door to talks with Tehran and Damascus to seek their help in stabilising Iraq, where insurgent violence and sectarian attacks are threatening to tear the country apart. But Moualem, who said on Sunday that a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal would be the best way to reduce violence, said he was not in Iraq to "please the United States". But there is growing talk in Washington that the Iraq Study Group, which is examining strategic options in Iraq, will advocate greater U.S. cooperation with Syria and Iran as the administration considers a change in course on the war. Washington withdrew its ambassador to Damascus and says it will not authorise higher-level contacts because of Syria's suspected role in supporting violent militants, Iraqi insurgents and opponents of Lebanon's government.

ITN Source | November 21, 2006

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