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Iraqi Premier Urges Talks but Vows to Battle Insurgents | Iraqi Premier Urges Talks but Vows to Battle Insurgents |
(about 5 hours later) | |
BAGHDAD — In the face of an armed rebellion by disgruntled Sunni Muslims against his Shiite-led government, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki on Thursday urged dialogue to calm tensions but vowed to continue military operations in a growing sectarian conflict that he warned could lead to a civil war like the one raging in Syria. | BAGHDAD — In the face of an armed rebellion by disgruntled Sunni Muslims against his Shiite-led government, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki on Thursday urged dialogue to calm tensions but vowed to continue military operations in a growing sectarian conflict that he warned could lead to a civil war like the one raging in Syria. |
“Security forces must impose security in Iraq, which is affected by a region teeming with sectarianism,” Mr. Maliki said in a speech broadcast to the nation on Thursday afternoon. “And now we are starting to see those problems come to us.” | “Security forces must impose security in Iraq, which is affected by a region teeming with sectarianism,” Mr. Maliki said in a speech broadcast to the nation on Thursday afternoon. “And now we are starting to see those problems come to us.” |
Mr. Maliki’s remarks came as his security forces continued to battle armed Sunni tribesmen, some linked to an insurgent group led by former officials of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party, in a fight that began Tuesday morning when security forces raided a Sunni protest camp in the northern village of Hawija, near Kirkuk, that left at least 50 civilians dead and more than 100 wounded. That led to a series of revenge attacks against security forces, and the fighting intensified Wednesday in the town of Sulaiman Bek, a village north of Baghdad that was surrounded by army vehicles after insurgents had taken over government buildings. The government used helicopter gunships to shoot at militants hiding in the village, and was said to be preparing a broader assault on the town. | Mr. Maliki’s remarks came as his security forces continued to battle armed Sunni tribesmen, some linked to an insurgent group led by former officials of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party, in a fight that began Tuesday morning when security forces raided a Sunni protest camp in the northern village of Hawija, near Kirkuk, that left at least 50 civilians dead and more than 100 wounded. That led to a series of revenge attacks against security forces, and the fighting intensified Wednesday in the town of Sulaiman Bek, a village north of Baghdad that was surrounded by army vehicles after insurgents had taken over government buildings. The government used helicopter gunships to shoot at militants hiding in the village, and was said to be preparing a broader assault on the town. |
“What happened in Hawija, and what is happening today in Sulaiman Bek and other places, is a point in which we should stop and think because it might lead to sectarian strife,” Mr. Maliki said. “Everyone would lose. Whether he is in the north, the south, east or west of Iraq, if the fire of sectarianism starts, everyone’s fingers will be burned by it.” | “What happened in Hawija, and what is happening today in Sulaiman Bek and other places, is a point in which we should stop and think because it might lead to sectarian strife,” Mr. Maliki said. “Everyone would lose. Whether he is in the north, the south, east or west of Iraq, if the fire of sectarianism starts, everyone’s fingers will be burned by it.” |
Meanwhile, as fighting also raged in the northern city of Mosul, in Falluja and in villages surrounding Baquba, the capital of Diyala Province, there were signs that Mr. Maliki’s military was fracturing along sectarian lines. | Meanwhile, as fighting also raged in the northern city of Mosul, in Falluja and in villages surrounding Baquba, the capital of Diyala Province, there were signs that Mr. Maliki’s military was fracturing along sectarian lines. |
Sheik Abdul Malik al-Saadi, a leading Sunni cleric who wields enormous influence over Iraq’s Sunni population, has urged members of Iraq’s security forces to abandon their posts and join the opposition to the Shiite-led government, saying they should do so just as “their brothers did in Syria.” | Sheik Abdul Malik al-Saadi, a leading Sunni cleric who wields enormous influence over Iraq’s Sunni population, has urged members of Iraq’s security forces to abandon their posts and join the opposition to the Shiite-led government, saying they should do so just as “their brothers did in Syria.” |
In linking the raging civil war in Syria to the growing unrest here in Iraq, the declaration is one of the surest signs yet that the sectarian battles under way in both countries are regarded by Sunnis as two elements of a budding regional sectarian conflict. The civil war in Syria pits a Sunni-led rebellion against a government dominated by Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. | |
Sheik Abdul released his statement Wednesday night from Amman, Jordan, where he lives. While he urged soldiers — he did not specify only Sunnis — to leave the military, he stopped short of endorsing an armed rebellion against the government by ordering deserting soldiers to leave their weapons behind. | |
He told government opponents to exercise restraint “as long as the armed forces are peaceful.” | He told government opponents to exercise restraint “as long as the armed forces are peaceful.” |
“But if they open fire, then burn the land beneath them and defend yourself with courage and strength,” he said. | “But if they open fire, then burn the land beneath them and defend yourself with courage and strength,” he said. |
Already, a few Sunni members of Iraq’s army are deserting, said Najmaldin Karim, the governor of Kirkuk, the province where Hawija is. The desertions underscore the speed at which the situation here is beginning to resemble the early stages of the civil war in Syria, when government forces turned their weapons on peaceful Sunni-led protests, spurring desertions from soldiers unwilling to kill members of their own sect. | |
“The Sunnis certainly don’t want to fight,” said Governor Karim, adding that some members of army units based near Kirkuk had contacted local officials, saying they wanted to leave their posts. “They don’t want to kill their own people.” | “The Sunnis certainly don’t want to fight,” said Governor Karim, adding that some members of army units based near Kirkuk had contacted local officials, saying they wanted to leave their posts. “They don’t want to kill their own people.” |
One Sunni soldier, who agreed to speak on the condition that his name not be used, said he paid a bribe to avoid joining the assault on Hawija. “I paid money to my officer in the army not to send me,” he said. “I have a family and children, and I did not think that the issue is worth dying for.” | |
“It’s our duty to protect Iraq from external enemies, not to take up arms against the people,” he added. | “It’s our duty to protect Iraq from external enemies, not to take up arms against the people,” he added. |
The continuing battles on Thursday, which by late afternoon had left nearly 50 people dead, most of them described by security official as militants, came as Western diplomats intensified efforts to persuade Mr. Maliki and his government to back away from a military solution to the Sunni uprising. The urgings were met with justifications for the heavy hand, partly out of fears that the situation would otherwise deteriorate into another Syria, according to one Western diplomat and an official close to Mr. Maliki, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity. | |
Another diplomat, who also agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity, said a fierce disagreement had erupted within the military command between Sunnis who opposed the military response and Shiite officers who directed it. | Another diplomat, who also agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity, said a fierce disagreement had erupted within the military command between Sunnis who opposed the military response and Shiite officers who directed it. |
Duraid Adnan and Yasir Ghazi contributed reporting from Baghdad, and employees of The New York Times from Nineveh, Anbar, Kirkuk and Diyala Provinces. | Duraid Adnan and Yasir Ghazi contributed reporting from Baghdad, and employees of The New York Times from Nineveh, Anbar, Kirkuk and Diyala Provinces. |