Iraq's prime minister insists on being upbeat as signs continue to surface that the country is far out of his control, writes Firas Al-Atraqchi Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nour Al-Maliki presided over the opening of a national reconciliation meeting with 700 tribal leaders from throughout Iraq and emphasised Iraqi unity as a way out of the wanton violence that has plagued the country since March 2003. The speaker of the Iraqi National Assembly as well as numerous ministers attended the meeting. The "Tribes of Iraq Conference" ended Sunday with the signing of a 21-point "honour" charter whereby participating tribal leaders pledged "Iraqi blood would be held sacrosanct" and to "work towards a stable and secure nation". The conference also formed committees dedicated to negotiating with the resistance, combating terrorism, disbanding militias and strengthening the Iraqi National Army. A national reconciliation plan has been a key objective of the Maliki government since May 2006, but to date the prime minister has failed to offer any concrete measures to curb the slow disintegration of the country. In June, Maliki introduced a 28-point plan for national reconciliation including the freeing of detainees from US and Iraqi prisons, compensating victims of joint US-Iraqi military operations, and a timetable for the withdrawal of occupation troops from Iraq. However, the plan hit a wall even before it was made public as Iraqi officials leaked one pivotal clause -- amnesty for all resistance fighters who targeted US troops and did not have Iraqi blood on their hands. Some Iraqi officials said Iraqi resistance to foreign occupation was legitimate; this seemed to meet an important demand from resistance groups that had been meeting with government envoys in the weeks preceding the 28-point plan. The suggestion, however, enraged US officials, the final version watered down to 24 points with the question of criminalising the resistance left intentionally ambiguous. A handful of armed groups were said to have engaged Maliki's offer for reconciliation but few details have emerged since. Maliki's latest efforts seem to have also run into two potentially explosive roadblocks -- the issues of federalism and tackling the militias. Federalism, as a political future for Iraq, has been strongly endorsed by several politicians in southern Iraq and the Kurds in the north. The Kurds have made it abundantly clear that a federated Iraq would ensure their participation and obviate calls for complete Kurdish secession. While the issue had been tabled during last week's conference, tribal leaders could not find common ground and opted to postpone their discussion to a later date. Sheikh Sami A�zzara, a tribal leader and head of the Tribal Committee in the National Reconciliation Council said while the issue of federalism is enshrined in the new Iraqi Constitution, it was decided to progress slowly for a period of time. He did not specify a duration. A further hurdle came when Sunni politicians accused Maliki of dragging his feet on disbanding the militias, many of which are alleged to have formed death squads thought to be behind most sectarian killings. Iraqi Front for National Dialogue leader Saleh Al-Mutlaq called on "political factions that run militias to dispense of them". He also called on Maliki to take "the bold step to disband and disarm the militias that control the security condition in Iraq," not the government. Mutlaq told Iraqi media that he had chosen Sunday to urge the government to act quickly because it coincided with the national reconciliation conference. He also lashed out at what he called political parties using their armed wings to unduly influence their assertive hold on the government and the distribution of ministries among them. Mutlaq alluded to "foreign" involvement in Iraq's political abyss when he accused some factions of pursuing an agenda dictated by the premise of partitioning the country. He dismissed talk of sectarian violence in Iraq, saying it was all politically motivated and influenced by Israel, which is determined to divide the oil-rich nation. Mutlaq's comments are likely to stir up yet another political storm as he has already raised the ire of Maliki's allies, the Mehdi militia, who at one point vowed to "crush" him because of his ties to Sunni resistance groups. Meanwhile, as politicians continue to squabble or commit to further talks, everyday Iraqis have no trust in the government as they mourn one funeral to the next. In the three months since Maliki proposed national reconciliation as the prime objective of his government, more than 7000 Iraqis have been killed. Car bombs, suicide operations and improvised explosive device (IED) attacks have increased since January of this year. Indeed, on the day that tribal leaders announced their 21- point plan at least 185 people were killed and wounded in Baquba, Baghdad, Muqdadiyah, Kirkuk, Basra, Hilla, Fallujah and Mosul. Also on the same day, 20 bodies were found in Baghdad with signs of torture, assassinated execution-style, in what has become a litany of daily and gruesome signs of the violence threatening to tear the country apart. On the same day as well, Iraqi police reported that four bodyguards of former Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Abd Mutlaq Al-Juburi had been killed in an ambush on their car in a predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of the capital. Nevertheless, Maliki insisted that, "Violence is not increasing" in Iraq as Iraqi security forces, backed by US troops, continue to police Baghdad. Iraq will never fall into civil war, Maliki told CNN's Late Edition Sunday. The prime minister's optimism is indicative of his being removed from the situation on the street. There are more than 300,000 internally displaced Iraqis who fled sectarian violence in their neighbourhoods, as well as some 100,000 currently living in makeshift refugee tents which dot Fallujah, Najaf and other cities. And despite security Operation Forward Together in which the US military says it searched more than 30,000 buildings in Baghdad, only 70 suspected "terrorists" were seized in security sweeps. Hopes in the viability of an Iraqi national army to police the country may also be misplaced. There are reports that some Iraqi soldiers are refusing to be deployed in regions of the country where they have no tribal affiliations. They are also refusing to police neighbourhoods where sectarian violence is rife. And their fears were realised earlier this week when a firefight between the army and purported Mehdi militiamen left 20 soldiers dead in Diwaniya, south of the capital. The Iraqi ministry of defense issued a statement saying up to 50 Mahdi militia fighters had been killed in the battle which started when Shia cleric Muqtada Sadr's supporters attacked police stations and army installations. Reports from Iraq indicated that a US refusal to release a detained Sadrist coupled with Iraqi Army security operations to rout out militias and weapons caches led to the flare-up. The violence between Iraqi forces and the militia should not be underestimated. If Maliki does not have the political and military will to challenge Sadr -- who has 30 seats in the 275-seat parliament -- Iraqi national reconciliation will amount to little more than banter. However, American and UK officials also seem to be airing statements quite contrary to the optimistic tone of Maliki. In early August, US General John Abizaid testifying at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing said "I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I've seen it, in Baghdad in particular, and that if not stopped it is possible that Iraq could move toward civil war." Outgoing UK ambassador to Iraq, William Patey, also warned that Iraq was headed towards civil war. Many Iraqis aren't waiting to find out whether their country finds relative stability in national reconciliation or falls into an abyss of inter-Iraqi conflict. Hundreds, of those who can, cross into Jordan and Syria every day. Others take rollercoaster flights out of Baghdad heading for Dubai or Cairo.
