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BAGHDAD: U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Baghdad Sunday to urge Iraqi leaders to act against Iran-backed Shiite militias, as another American soldier was killed in the south of the country.
Panetta, who took office 10 days ago, flew in after visiting Afghanistan and was also to urge Iraqi leaders to decide soon on whether they want U.S. troops beyond the scheduled pullout at the end of this year, a senior U.S. defense official said.
About 46,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, down from a high of 170,000 after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. They are scheduled to leave in less than six months unless a deal is reached between Baghdad and Washington.
“If they are to make a proposal with regards to the continuing U.S. presence there, they have to make a formal request that we would obviously consider,” Panetta told reporters shortly after his arrival.
He is due to meet President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massud Barzani.
“The issues for Iraq are security there and what’s being done, particularly to deal with the Iranian supply of weapons to militants in Iraq,” Panetta said.
A U.S. military statement said a soldier was killed in southern Iraq Sunday, but gave no other details.
Asked about increased attacks on U.S. forces by Shiite militants backed by Iran, Panetta expressed “tremendous concern,” and called on Iraq to do more to “go after those extremists that are making use of these weapons” supplied by Tehran.
Panetta will relay to Iraq that the United States is open to a request on a troop extension but that if it is to be made it should be made soon.
“I think the secretary will convey to the Iraqis … that there’s some urgency for them to make that request if they’re going to make it,” said a senior U.S. official who is travelling with the defense secretary.
Panetta is the latest top U.S. official to arrive in Iraq, asking officials to accept a contingent of American troops beyond 2011. U.S. diplomatic sources in Baghdad say there has been no talk on the possible number that could remain.
Ali Mussawi, Maliki’s media adviser, told AFP Sunday that a decision within two weeks was unlikely.
“I believe that political leaders will not reach an agreement during the two-week deadline,” he said, adding that leaders were too busy arguing over small issues instead of focusing on more important issues such as the future of American forces in Iraq.
In the meantime, the remains of 222 people, probably Kurds killed under Iraq’s former regime in 1987, were extracted from a mass grave south of Baghdad, the authorities said Sunday.
“We have found 222 bodies and we have transferred them to the morgue in the province of Najaf,” said Karim Ziad, the official in charge of mass graves at the Department of Human Rights.
Iraqi authorities announced Wednesday they had discovered another mass grave with 900 corpses in the Shanafiyah region near the city of Diwaniyah.
Ziad said several factors suggested that the victims, most of whom have bullet wounds, were Kurds killed during the regime of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
“The mass graves are made up of six trenches, and we have done [work] on only three of them,” he said, suggesting the number of victims could be much higher.
Dakhil Saihoud, provincial head of the Justice and Accountability Commission which investigates issues relating to the former regime, said he was informed there were 17 trenches at the site.
“It is possible there are hundreds of bodies in there,” he told AFP.
“The mass graves are crimes against humanity committed in 1987,” said Human Rights Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani.
“This is one of 84 sites listed at our ministry, and we have completed work on 34 of them,” he said.
Widad Hatem, director of the Committee for Human Rights in Diwaniyah’s provincial council, said women and children were among the victims discovered.
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Panetta, who took office 10 days ago, flew in after visiting Afghanistan and was also to urge Iraqi leaders to decide soon on whether they want U.S. troops beyond the scheduled pullout at the end of this year, a senior U.S. defense official said.
About 46,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, down from a high of 170,000 after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. They are scheduled to leave in less than six months unless a deal is reached between Baghdad and Washington.
“If they are to make a proposal with regards to the continuing U.S. presence there, they have to make a formal request that we would obviously consider,” Panetta told reporters shortly after his arrival.
He is due to meet President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massud Barzani.
“The issues for Iraq are security there and what’s being done, particularly to deal with the Iranian supply of weapons to militants in Iraq,” Panetta said.
A U.S. military statement said a soldier was killed in southern Iraq Sunday, but gave no other details.
Asked about increased attacks on U.S. forces by Shiite militants backed by Iran, Panetta expressed “tremendous concern,” and called on Iraq to do more to “go after those extremists that are making use of these weapons” supplied by Tehran.
Panetta will relay to Iraq that the United States is open to a request on a troop extension but that if it is to be made it should be made soon.
“I think the secretary will convey to the Iraqis … that there’s some urgency for them to make that request if they’re going to make it,” said a senior U.S. official who is travelling with the defense secretary.
Panetta is the latest top U.S. official to arrive in Iraq, asking officials to accept a contingent of American troops beyond 2011. U.S. diplomatic sources in Baghdad say there has been no talk on the possible number that could remain.
Ali Mussawi, Maliki’s media adviser, told AFP Sunday that a decision within two weeks was unlikely.
“I believe that political leaders will not reach an agreement during the two-week deadline,” he said, adding that leaders were too busy arguing over small issues instead of focusing on more important issues such as the future of American forces in Iraq.
In the meantime, the remains of 222 people, probably Kurds killed under Iraq’s former regime in 1987, were extracted from a mass grave south of Baghdad, the authorities said Sunday.
“We have found 222 bodies and we have transferred them to the morgue in the province of Najaf,” said Karim Ziad, the official in charge of mass graves at the Department of Human Rights.
Iraqi authorities announced Wednesday they had discovered another mass grave with 900 corpses in the Shanafiyah region near the city of Diwaniyah.
Ziad said several factors suggested that the victims, most of whom have bullet wounds, were Kurds killed during the regime of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
“The mass graves are made up of six trenches, and we have done [work] on only three of them,” he said, suggesting the number of victims could be much higher.
Dakhil Saihoud, provincial head of the Justice and Accountability Commission which investigates issues relating to the former regime, said he was informed there were 17 trenches at the site.
“It is possible there are hundreds of bodies in there,” he told AFP.
“The mass graves are crimes against humanity committed in 1987,” said Human Rights Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani.
“This is one of 84 sites listed at our ministry, and we have completed work on 34 of them,” he said.
Widad Hatem, director of the Committee for Human Rights in Diwaniyah’s provincial council, said women and children were among the victims discovered.
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