Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
June 3, 2008
Pg. 11
By Andrew E. Kramer
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, has scheduled a visit to Iran later this week and is expected to broach a subject high on the agenda of American commanders here: the allegation that Iran is supporting the insurgency in Iraq with men and weapons.
For more than a year, American generals have accused the Iranian authorities of slipping agents and weapons across the long, porous border, including a powerful type of roadside bomb called explosively formed penetrators, which can pierce the armor on American vehicles.
For the Iraqi government the issue is more fraught. Mr. Maliki’s government is composed of Shiite political parties that were sheltered in Iran, and received support from the Iranian government, during the rule of Saddam Hussein.
Mr. Maliki’s approach to Iran is less adversarial than the Americans’. He has appealed to Iran for assistance in stabilizing the country and reviving the economy. Last month, the government turned to Iran to help broker a cease-fire with Shiite militias in the Sadr City district in northeastern Baghdad.
The planned visit seemed to reflect this approach, too.
The newspaper Al Sabah quoted a government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, as saying that Mr. Maliki would leave for Tehran on Saturday. The trip will also take him to Jordan.
Another spokesman, Yaseen Majed, said Mr. Maliki would discuss political and security matters in Tehran.
In response to what the American military says is evidence of Iranian weaponry discovered in Iraq, however, Mr. Maliki convened an investigative committee. The findings of this committee, which have not been made public, will be presented to Iranian officials during the visit, according to a senior adviser to Mr. Maliki, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the prime minister’s agenda.
The Iraqi government is negotiating a long-term security pact with the United States and is under pressure from Shiite political parties to demonstrate independence from the Americans. Iran represents another potential partner for the Iraqi government to help tamp down the insurgency, at least in Shiite areas.
It will be the second visit to Tehran for Mr. Maliki in less than a year. He traveled to Tehran last August, and Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, visited Baghdad in March.
In violence in Iraq on Monday, a suicide car bomber detonated near a police station in the northern city of Mosul, killing nine people, including five police officers. An additional 46 people were wounded, according to a police official. Islamic fighters had warned on a Web site that they would retaliate for a military operation and wave of mass arrests in the city last month.
The United States military said it killed two suspected insurgents and captured 31 others in operations in central and northern Iraq on Sunday and Monday.
The military said the two were killed early Monday after American soldiers came under machine-gun fire and called in an airstrike in response. American soldiers found a nest of insurgent activity at the site, about 100 miles northwest of Tikrit, including explosives, components for suicide vests and tunnels leading to sleeping quarters, the military’s statement said.
In Baghdad, a roadside bomb killed an Iraqi policeman and wounded six others. In Diyala Province, north of Baghdad, a bomb detonated in a government office, wounding three people. Three roadside bombs were found and defused in the region.
Qais Mizher contributed reporting.
June 3, 2008
Pg. 11
By Andrew E. Kramer
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, has scheduled a visit to Iran later this week and is expected to broach a subject high on the agenda of American commanders here: the allegation that Iran is supporting the insurgency in Iraq with men and weapons.
For more than a year, American generals have accused the Iranian authorities of slipping agents and weapons across the long, porous border, including a powerful type of roadside bomb called explosively formed penetrators, which can pierce the armor on American vehicles.
For the Iraqi government the issue is more fraught. Mr. Maliki’s government is composed of Shiite political parties that were sheltered in Iran, and received support from the Iranian government, during the rule of Saddam Hussein.
Mr. Maliki’s approach to Iran is less adversarial than the Americans’. He has appealed to Iran for assistance in stabilizing the country and reviving the economy. Last month, the government turned to Iran to help broker a cease-fire with Shiite militias in the Sadr City district in northeastern Baghdad.
The planned visit seemed to reflect this approach, too.
The newspaper Al Sabah quoted a government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, as saying that Mr. Maliki would leave for Tehran on Saturday. The trip will also take him to Jordan.
Another spokesman, Yaseen Majed, said Mr. Maliki would discuss political and security matters in Tehran.
In response to what the American military says is evidence of Iranian weaponry discovered in Iraq, however, Mr. Maliki convened an investigative committee. The findings of this committee, which have not been made public, will be presented to Iranian officials during the visit, according to a senior adviser to Mr. Maliki, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the prime minister’s agenda.
The Iraqi government is negotiating a long-term security pact with the United States and is under pressure from Shiite political parties to demonstrate independence from the Americans. Iran represents another potential partner for the Iraqi government to help tamp down the insurgency, at least in Shiite areas.
It will be the second visit to Tehran for Mr. Maliki in less than a year. He traveled to Tehran last August, and Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, visited Baghdad in March.
In violence in Iraq on Monday, a suicide car bomber detonated near a police station in the northern city of Mosul, killing nine people, including five police officers. An additional 46 people were wounded, according to a police official. Islamic fighters had warned on a Web site that they would retaliate for a military operation and wave of mass arrests in the city last month.
The United States military said it killed two suspected insurgents and captured 31 others in operations in central and northern Iraq on Sunday and Monday.
The military said the two were killed early Monday after American soldiers came under machine-gun fire and called in an airstrike in response. American soldiers found a nest of insurgent activity at the site, about 100 miles northwest of Tikrit, including explosives, components for suicide vests and tunnels leading to sleeping quarters, the military’s statement said.
In Baghdad, a roadside bomb killed an Iraqi policeman and wounded six others. In Diyala Province, north of Baghdad, a bomb detonated in a government office, wounding three people. Three roadside bombs were found and defused in the region.
Qais Mizher contributed reporting.