Biden in Iraq to try to ease tensions ahead of elections

BAGHDAD (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden brought Washington’s concerns about Iraqi political tensions directly to leaders in Baghdad on Friday, but officials appeared to leave little room for outside mediation over whether to ban hundreds of election candidates for suspected links to Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Washington fears the blacklist — now more than 500 candidates and expected to grow — could set back reconciliation efforts between the majority Shiites who gained power with Saddam’s fall and the Sunnis who hope to regain greater political footing in parliamentary elections March 7.

Biden’s two-day trip underscores the concern by the White House that the growing sectarian tensions could seriously mar the election, which has been seen as an important step in healing Iraq’s wartime divides and allowing the Pentagon to accelerate troop withdrawals.

Iraq, however, appeared reluctant to accept Washington’s direct intervention — another sign that the ability of U.S. officials to influence Iraqi affairs is fading rapidly.

Moments after Biden arrived, Iraq’s presidential spokesman, Nasser al-Ani, said Iraq was willing to listen to suggestions on easing the political standoff caused by the blacklist, but he noted: “Nobody can interfere in Iraqi affairs ... Biden or others.”

The spokesman for the Shiite-led government, Ali al-Dabbagh, also drew a clear line on outside views over Iraq’s efforts to identify and weed out suspected supporters of Saddam’s now-outlawed Baath party.

“It is an internal affair that should be discussed by Iraqi political entities,” he said.

Biden’s national security adviser, Tony Blinken, played down the vice president’s role in mediating the dispute and said the vice president did not plan to push for one solution over another.

“It’s not for any outsider to tell Iraq how to resolve this issue,” Blinken said.

He said the Obama administration wants to be sure the dispute does not cast doubt on the legitimacy of the upcoming election.

“We’re not proposing solutions to them,” Blinken said. “We’re listening.”

The issue is a lightning rod in Iraq.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — a Shiite who has been supported by Washington — has spearheaded the drive against suspected Saddam loyalists. He has directly blamed Baath-party operatives for recent blasts in Baghdad, including a series of bombings in early December that killed more than 125 people.

Sunnis — who were favored under Saddam — complain that Shiite-led authorities are engaging in a blanket purge that does not distinguish between high-ranking Saddam henchmen and others who backed the Baath party out of necessity to retain jobs or educational opportunities. Some Sunni political leaders also claim the government is trying to weaken Sunni chances before the election to determine the next parliament.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who is from the northern Kurdish region, has turned to the courts.

Talabani earlier this week asked for a judicial opinion on the legitimacy of the vetting panel that issued the blacklist, which so far has 511 names of suspected Baath supporters that include both Sunnis and Shiites. The courts are expected to examine whether the committee had the authority to make the decision since it was not given a green light by parliament.

The vetting panel is led by Ali al-Lami, a Shiite once detained by the U.S. military over a 2008 attack in a Shiite district of Baghdad. He also is a candidate in the March elections.