IRAQ:The new American commander in Iraq said yesterday that military force alone would not end the violence without political reconciliation, adding that US troop reinforcements would probably stay "well beyond the summer".
Gen David Petraeus, at his first news conference since he took command last month, said it was critical that Shia prime minister Nuri al-Maliki engage some militant groups in peace talks to end the bloodshed threatening to tear Iraq apart.
"There is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq, to the insurgency of Iraq," he said. "Military action is necessary . . . but it is not sufficient." Political progress would require talking with "some of those who have felt the new Iraq did not have a place for them".
As Iraq prepares to host a regional conference with neighbours and world powers on Saturday in Baghdad, Gen Petraeus said that a key challenge for Mr Maliki would be to bring "reconcilable" militant groups into the US-backed political process.
Speaking a day after US defence secretary Robert Gates approved his request for an extra 2,200 military police to support the Baghdad security "surge", Gen Petraeus said that he saw no immediate need for more US troops. But he warned that insurgents might launch more "sensational attacks" of the kind which have killed more than 200 people in the last three days, including many Shia pilgrims in the holy city of Kerbala.
President George W. Bush is sending 21,500 more troops, mostly to Baghdad, under a plan to rid the capital of Sunni Arab militants and Shia militias. The push is regarded as the final chance to avoid a descent into all-out civil war.
Asked about media reports suggesting that the additional 21,500 troops would need to stay in Iraq until early 2008, Gen Petraeus said: "I've certainly not reached a conclusion yet about that. I think you generally think that if you're going to achieve the kind of effects that we probably need, I would think it would need to be sustained certainly some time well beyond the summer, but again we'll have to see."
Washington has not said exactly how long the troop build-up will last. The United States has 140,000 troops in Iraq.
In an apparent diplomatic overture, the US said yesterday that it would not "walk away" from bilateral talks with Iran or Syria at a neighbours' conference in Baghdad this weekend if either country approached it to discuss stabilising Iraq.
The White House has in the past reacted coolly to recommendations that it hold direct talks with Damascus and Tehran. Washington accuses Iran and Syria of fuelling violence in Iraq.
"If we are approached over orange juice by the Syrians or the Iranians to discuss an Iraq-related issue that is germane to this topic - stable, secure, peaceful, democratic Iraq - we are not going to turn and walk away," State Department Iraq co-ordinator David Satterfield told reporters in Washington. However, he said whether or not such talks were held would depend in part on the Syrian and Iranian stance.
Millions of Shia pilgrims are flocking to the holy city of Kerbala ahead of the climax of the mourning rite of Arbain this weekend. Gen Petraeus condemned those responsible for attacks on pilgrims in recent days as "thugs with no souls", saying that groups such as al-Qaeda were attempting to incite sectarian strife. - ( Reuters)