The Iraqi government said today it had secured the dismissal of the chief judge trying Saddam Hussein for genocide after he said last week that the former Iraqi president was not a dictator.
General John Abizaid's comments came as Shia politicians from the ruling coalition told a raucous parliament session that it was time to re-evaluate the American presence in Iraq.
"I think that this level will probably have to be sustained through the spring, and then we'll re-evaluate," Gen Abizaid told reporters in Washington. As chief of Central Command, Gen Abizaid is responsible for US forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the war crimes court had agreed to replace judge Abdullah al-Amiri. The court could not be immediately reached to confirm this, and a U.S. official close to the court was unaware of any change.
"We have asked the court to replace the judge because he has lost his neutrality after he made comments saying Saddam is not a dictator," Mr Dabbagh said. "The court told us he has already been replaced."
The court presided by Amiri is trying Saddam, his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as "Chemical Ali", and five others for war crimes and crimes against humanity for their role in the 1988 Anfal campaign against ethnic Kurds. Saddam and Majeed also face the graver charge of genocide.
Today mortars struck houses in southwest Baghdad killing two and injuring 20. A car bomb struck near a cooking- gas canister filling station, killing two and wounding 24.
Those strikes followed two days of massive bombings outside the capital, with nearly 60 people killed in Kirkuk, Tal Afar and Ramadi, cities in the northern and western sectors where Washington is cutting back troops to concentrate on Baghdad.
One US soldier was killed in Tikrit and Washington said two other soldiers were killed in the capital over the weekend.
Baghdad has become far more violent since February, when an attack on a Shia mosque in Samarra triggered tit-for-tat sectarian killings by Sunni and Shia militia. Thousands have died and thousands more have fled their homes.
Iraqi politicians expressed anger at the government's failure to halt the violence, suggesting cracks in the ruling Shia coalition of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.