Iraqi PM delivers barbed olive branch
Nouri al-Maliki is planning to reshuffle his cabinet
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Sunday, 04, Mar 2007 07:53
The prime minister of Iraq has told insurgents that he is prepared to increase security across "every inch" of the troubled Middle Eastern country.
Nouri al-Maliki gave the warning as he urged reconciliation between Iraq's many disparate sectarian factions.
The US army is still pushing ahead with Operation Imposing Law in Baghdad, a high-security imitative aimed at lowering insurgent activity in the capital.
And in a televised address, Mr al-Maliki said: "We do not need to implement security measures except against those who reject the language of reconciliation and dialogue, those who insist on restoring the past.
"We present in our hand a green olive branch, and in the other hand we present the law. Operation Imposing Law started in Baghdad, it will cover every inch of Iraq."
The Iraqi premier also indicated that he would be giving underperforming ministers the push as he reshuffles his cabinet in the coming weeks.
It is thought that ministers closest to anti-US Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr are to be removed from their posts.
The US army was today in the Sadr City district of Baghdad mounting high visibility patrols.
Sadr City is effectively controlled by al-Sadr's Mehdi army Shia militia and the Pentagon has traditionally stayed clear of one of the most sensitive areas of Baghdad.