President, Iraqi PM tout Baghdad security plan
Democrats expressed displeasure with al-Maliki's Israel stance.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Tuesday a new plan to increase U.S. and Iraqi forces in the besieged capital of Baghdad will help quell rising violence that is threatening Iraq's transformation to a self-sustaining democracy.
"Obviously the violence in Baghdad is still terrible and therefore there needs to be more troops," Bush said in a White House news conference with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Al-Maliki, on his first trip to the United States since becoming prime minister two months ago, said he and Bush agreed that training and better arming Iraqi forces as quickly as possible, particularly in the capital city, was central to efforts to stabilize the country.
"And, God willing, there will be no civil war in Iraq," al-Maliki said, speaking through a translator.
The two leaders disagreed openly on how to end hostilities between the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon and Israel, with al-Maliki, a Shiite Muslim leader, reiterating his support for an immediate cease-fire and Bush sticking by the administration opposition to one.
A group of House Democrats called on GOP leaders to cancel al-Maliki's address to Congress today. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said he doubted he would attend and that there were a "large number of people [in Congress] who were uncomfortable" with al-Maliki's condemnation of Israel's attacks in Lebanon and apparent support for Hezbollah.
Reinforcing the capital
Bush said that al-Maliki had asked for more military equipment from the United States and had recommended increasing U.S. and Iraqi forces patrolling Baghdad neighborhoods. "And we're going to do that," Bush said.
The president said U.S. forces would be moved in from other parts of Iraq. He did not say how many, but Pentagon officials have suggested several thousands troops would be moved to Baghdad, including some now based in Kuwait.
There are roughly 127,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. The administration is under increasing pressure from Democrats and some Republicans to bring a substantial number home by the end of this year.
Asked if the tense situation in Baghdad would alter the equation for an eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces, Bush said troop level decisions will still be based on recommendations from military commanders in the field.
"Conditions change inside a country," Bush said. "Will we be able to deal with the circumstances on the ground? And the answer is, yes, we will."
The president and the prime minister met privately before the news conference to discuss strategy, then continued talks over lunch with a larger group that included Cabinet members and aides.
At the East Room news conference, Bush said al-Maliki was very clear in stating that "he does not want American troops to leave his country until his government can protect the Iraqi people. And I assured him that America will not abandon the Iraqi people."
It was not clear how many U.S. troops will be in Baghdad as a result of the new plan. About two weeks ago, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that the number of Iraqi and U.S. troops in Baghdad had recently grown from 40,000 to 55,000.
Meanwhile, in Iraq
Meanwhile, in Baghdad on Tuesday, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers captured six members of an alleged "death squad," hoping to quell the rampant sectarian violence dividing the capital, while attacks elsewhere in Iraq left at least 26 people dead.
Also, representatives of Iraq's ethnic and sectarian groups met in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to reconcile. Some 30 delegates representing Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and other smaller minorities participated in discussions sponsored by the Cairo-based Arab League.
The talks are intended to prepare for a national reconciliation conference in Baghdad next month. U.S. officials believe control of Baghdad -- the political, cultural, transport and economic hub of the country -- will determine the future of Iraq.
"This is a duty for Iraqis to find out ways for ending this dilemma," said Arab League Undersecretary-General Ahmed Ben Heli, whose group sponsored the conference.
The six suspects, including a cell leader, were detained during a pre-dawn raid on four buildings in Baghdad, a U.S. military statement said. It was not clear if those detained Tuesday were Sunnis or Shiites.
Later in the day, gunmen attacked a police checkpoint in Dujail, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, and ambushed a sport utility vehicle belonging to a private security company in north Baghdad, killing eight people.
The killings gripping the capital accelerated after the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra and have steadily increased despite the establishment of al-Maliki's national unity government in May.
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