IRAQI PRIME minister Nouri al-Maliki yesterday called upon the UN to establish a tribunal to try suspects in the devastating bombings at the foreign and finance ministries in Baghdad on August 19th last.
“The magnitude of these crimes demands that they be addressed immediately by the international community,” he stated in a letter to secretary general Ban Ki-moon.
More than 100 people were killed and 600 wounded by blasts which Mr Maliki has blamed on wanted members of the outlawed Baath party who took refuge in Syria after the US occupation of Iraq in 2003. He has demanded the extradition by Syria of two men he says planned and financed the operation. Damascus has called for proof of their involvement before complying.
Since US forces pulled out of Iraqi urban areas at the end of June, Mr Maliki has trumpeted the efficacy of the Iraqi security forces and argued that they are reclaiming Iraqi sovereignty.
Since an overwhelming majority of Iraqi Arabs, 85 per cent of the population, call for US withdrawal, he seeks to capitalise on the Iraqi takeover of security duties to promote his prospects for a return to the premiership following elections in 2010.
To reduce infiltration, Mr Maliki ordered the reinforcement of Iraqi forces on the 745km border with Syria. He accused Damascus of not doing enough to interdict fighters crossing the border, and claims that 90 per cent of infiltrators enter Iraq through Syria. However, Iraqi officials and the US military reported that there had been only three infiltrators – two Syrians and one Jordanian – arrested over the past two months, indicating that the Syrians were cracking down on cross-border movement.
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad dismissed Mr Maliki’s charges, which led to the withdrawal of ambassadors on August 25th and exacerbated tensions between Baghdad and Damascus.
An unidentified Iraqi official claimed yesterday that before the Baghdad ministry bombings, Iraqi intelligence had broken up 18 militant groups and arrested 66 fighters, including members of al-Qaeda and the Baath party.
