Iraqi insurgents hit back
2005-02-03 17:37
Baghdad - Iraqi insurgents hit back on Thursday with raids that killed 24 people after US President George W Bush said American forces would give Iraqi security forces greater responsibility in countering rebels.
Twelve soldiers were killed in an ambush in northern Iraq on Wednesday and other attacks were staged across the country on Thursday - ending a brief lull in the rebel assault after the first free election in five decades.
Highlighting Sunday's election in his annual state of the union speech, Bush said "the new political situation in Iraq opens a new phase of our work in that country".
He added: "We will increasingly focus our efforts on helping prepare more capable Iraqi security forces, forces with skilled officers, and an effective command structure.
Supporting role
"As those forces become more self-reliant and take on greater security responsibilities, America and its coalition partners will increasingly be in a supporting role."
Bush, who ordered the March 2003 invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, rebuffed mounting demands to set a timetable to withdraw the 150 000 US troops in Iraq.
But the new insurgent assaults over the past 24 hours highlighted the enormous task facing the new Iraqi security forces in coming months.
In a rare case of civilians fighting back, villagers of Al-Mudhiryah, south of Baghdad, killed five insurgents who attacked them for taking part in the elections, police said.
Vote count
While the vote count advanced at a snail's pace - with no result now expected until well into next week - Iraqi politicians pursued their negotiations on the distribution of posts in the next government.
The UN envoy to Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, expressed hope that the Sunni parties which boycotted the election would take part in talks to draw up a constitution, following talks with Mohsen Abdel Hamid, leader of the Islamic Party.
Shiite leaders have proposed a deal which would see a Shiite prime minister leading the government and a Sunni president.
But the negotiations were complicated by the announcement from Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani that he would be the official Kurdish candidate to become prime minister or president in the new government.
Sunni political groups have sought a timetable for US-led troops to pull out as a condition for joining the political process.
- AFP