Iraqi PM: We prevented civil war
Monday, 10 Sep 2007 12:16
Iraqi president Jalal Talabani (left) and prime minister Nouri al-Maliki
Iraq In Focus
Turmoil in Iraq has dominated news headlines since Saddam Hussein's statue toppled in Baghdad nearly four years ago. Full Story
Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki has claimed the country's politicians have helped to avert a sectarian civil war.
Mr al-Maliki's statement to MPs in Baghdad came hours before key American figures reported to Congress on the progress made by the US army's security surge.
Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq, and General David Petraeus, the senior American commander in Iraq, defended the 30,000 extra troops that George Bush sent to Baghdad but criticised the limited inroads towards stability made by local politicians.
In his address to the Iraqi parliament today, Shia Muslim politician Mr al-Maliki said: "We have achieved success in preventing Iraq from going into sectarian war and I am fully confident that national reconciliation is our only way that takes Iraq into safety."
But he accepted that Iraq was not ready to assume full control of security responsibilities amid growing pressure for coalition forces to withdraw from the troubled Middle Eastern country.
"We still need more efforts and time in order for our armed forces to be able to take over security in all Iraqi provinces from the multinational forces that helped us in a great way in fighting terrorism," Mr al-Maliki said, adding that violence levels had fallen 75 per cent in the Iraqi capital since the American-led security surge.
The Iraqi prime minister's statement comes ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which since the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003 has coincided with an increase in bloodshed.