IRAQ:Iraq's prime minister told parliament yesterday Iraqi forces were not ready to defend the country without US help, despite what he termed major improvements in security in Baghdad since the US troop build-up began this year.
Sunni politicians disputed talk that life was getting better for residents of the capital and blamed prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shia-led government for failing to ease sectarian tension.
Mr al-Maliki, a Shia, appeared before parliament hours before US ambassador Ryan Crocker and top commander Gen David Petraeus began briefing Congress on the situation in Iraq since US president George Bush ordered nearly 30,000 extra troops to Iraq this year.
"There have been tangible improvements in security in the recent period in Baghdad and the provinces, but it is not enough," Mr al-Maliki said.
"Despite the security improvement, we still need more efforts and time in order for our armed forces to be able to take over security in all Iraqi provinces from the multinational forces that helped us a great deal in fighting terrorism and outlaws."
Mr al-Maliki said violence had dropped 75 per cent in the Baghdad area since military operations stepped up in the city on February 14th, although he offered no detailed figures. Thousands of militants had been killed or captured, he added.
Despite ongoing violence, Mr al-Maliki said his government had managed to stop Iraq descending into all-out Sunni-Shia civil war.
"We have achieved success in preventing Iraq from descending into sectarian war and I am fully confident that national reconciliation is our only way that takes Iraq into safety."
He also said his cabinet had finalised a draft Bill to allow thousands of former Saddam Hussein supporters to serve in government posts, a major demand of the Sunnis and one of the 18 benchmarks demanded by the US. Parliament will debate the measure next week.
Sunni politicians acknowledged that Iraq's security forces were not ready to defend the country on their own, but challenged Mr al-Maliki's statements that life was improving.
"Maliki was talking about the illusion of improvement in the security situation," Sunni politician Mohammed al-Dayni said. "This is just talk. All streets are blocked with concrete walls and barbed wires. You can see only few people in the streets. People are living an abnormal life."
Salim Abdullah al-Jubouri, spokesman for the main Sunni bloc in parliament, said the "real solution" to the Iraq crisis was a "fundamental change in the political process", dominated by Shia religious parties and their Kurdish allies.
Such views appear to be shared by a large number of Iraqis, according to a poll conducted by ABC News, the BBC, and Japan's public broadcaster NHK and released yesterday. The poll found that 47 per cent of those surveyed want US forces and their allies to leave the country immediately and only 39 per cent said their lives were going well. Only 25 per cent said their own communities have become safer in the past six months.