Raid of slum angers Iraqi leader

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, October 25, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq – An angry Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki disavowed a joint U.S.-Iraqi raid in the capital’s Sadr City slum Wednesday, and criticized the top U.S. military and diplomatic representatives in Iraq for saying his government needs to set a timetable to curb violence in the country.

Al-Maliki spoke a day after U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Iraqi leaders had agreed to set deadlines by year’s end for achieving specific political and security goals laid out by the United States, including reining in militia groups.

“I affirm that this government represents the will of the people and no one has the right to impose a timetable on it,” the prime minister said.

The prime minister dismissed U.S. talk of timelines as driven by the coming midterm elections in the United States. “I am positive that this is not the official policy of the American government but rather a result of the ongoing election campaign. And that does not concern us much,” he said.

Al-Maliki complained that he was not consulted beforehand about the Sadr City offensive. The raid was conducted by Iraqi special forces backed by U.S. advisers and was aimed at capturing a top militia commander wanted for running a Shiite death squad.

“We will ask for clarification to what has happened,” al-Maliki said. “We will review this issue with the Multinational Forces so that it will not be repeated.”

Military action in Sadr City is especially sensitive for the prime minister.

Until Wednesday, U.S. and Iraqi forces had largely avoided the densely populated slum, a grid of rutted streets and tumble-down housing that is home to 2.5 million Shiites and under the control of anti-American cleric Muqtada’s al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army.

Late Wednesday the military said it had killed 10 suspected militia fighters and wounded two in the battle. It did not identify the wanted militia leader or say whether he was still at large. Earlier, police and hospital officials said four people were killed and at least 18 wounded.