US wants political progress
2007-12-02 16:52
Baghdad - Iraq must take advantage of
improved security to enact laws aimed at reconciliation or risk
a resumption of sectarian violence, US deputy secretary of
state John Negroponte said on Sunday.
"The security surge has delivered significant results. Now
progress on political reconciliation, including key national
legislation as well as economic advances, is needed to
consolidate the gains," Negroponte told a news conference in
Baghdad at the end of a six-day tour of Iraq.
"If progress is not made on these fronts we risk falling
back toward the more violent habits of the past," he said.
Violence in Iraq has fallen dramatically over the past few
months since Washington launched a "surge" of 30 000 additional
troops.
But US officials say Iraqi leaders have so far made
limited progress on passing laws aimed at reconciling warring
communities.
Negroponte called on the Democrat-led US Congress to vote
for additional funding for the war effort, including for State
Department-led provincial reconstruction teams, which he said
were not covered by previous appropriations.
"Without this supplemental funding it will be necessary to
curtail this critical activity," he said.