'Bloodshed, but not civil war'

2006-10-18 15:30

Amman - Iraqi vice president Tareq al-Hashemi on Wednesday denied his violence-battered country was in the throes of civil war, while insisting that reconciliation was a must to end the bloodshed.

"I don't think that what is happening now in Iraq is civil war," Hashemi said at a joint press conference in Amman with Jordanian Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit.

"There is bloodshed and sectarian tensions and innocent people are being killed but we are not in a civil war," Hashemi said before heading into talks with King Abdullah II.

Law and order

Asked about solutions to end the spiral of violence between Sunni and Shi'ite death squads, the vice president said: "Reconciliation, goodwill, and strong determination."

Hashemi admitted that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was facing a "difficult situation" in his effort to restore law and order across Iraq.

"The mission is not easy. Maliki is in a difficult situation but I think Maliki will succeed in the end," said the Sunni vice president who himself had a sister shot dead last April in an attack on her car in Baghdad.

US-led forces

Asked if the presence of US-led forces was part of the problem facing Iraq, he replied: "It depends on their behaviour. It can be part of the problem, it can be part of the solution."

The foreign forces were "needed for the time being although they must obey the decisions of the Iraqi authorities", he said, adding that a timetable for withdrawal was "much needed".

Maliki on Tuesday renewed a pledge to fight armed groups in Iraq "by all political or military means", after more than 60 people were killed in a sectarian bloodbath between Sunni and Shi'ite rivals in Balad, northern Iraq.

Hashemi renewed Iraqi accusations of "flagrant foreign intervention in Iraqi affairs" but said rival factions "must see the importance of sitting at a table of negotiations with either American or Iraqi forces".

"Enough of this bloodshed and this violence," he said.

Iraq situation 'of concern'

Hashemi later briefed King Abdullah on the volatile situation in Iraq during a meeting in which the Jordanian monarch renewed his call on Iraqis to stand united and avoid sectarian rifts.

King Abdullah "expressed his deep concern over the increase of violence in the past few weeks and warned against attempts to fuel internal fighting between the Iraqi people", a court statement said.

"Iraq's security and stability is as much Jordan's interest as it is Iraq's interest," he said, offering any assistance that Amman could provide.

- AFP