IRAQ TEETERS ON BRINK OF COMPLETE COLLAPSE: PM CALLS FOR HELP FROM ARAB NEIGHBORS

Iraqi leader calls for Arab support as militia threats grow

Iraqi leader calls on Arab states for support as al-Sadr followers brace for more clashes

ROBERT H. REID and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRAAP News
Apr 21, 2008 19:37 EST

http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=137487

Iraq's prime minister appealed Monday for support from his Arab neighbors, urging them to open embassies and forgive Iraqi debts as his government tries to crack down on Shiite militias in a crucial power struggle.

The appeal came as leaders of the biggest militia — the Mahdi Army of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr — warned more violence could await, even as they criticized the government for allegedly showing little interest in negotiating with them.

With tension rising, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki flew to Kuwait for a meeting Tuesday of Iraq's neighbors to discuss ways they can help Iraq's Shiite-led government as it confronts both Shiite militias and Sunni extremists including al-Qaida in Iraq.

Al-Maliki said he will be looking for tangible support, including relief from Iraq's $67 billion foreign debt — most of it owed to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

"There are countries that support the political process and are opening embassies here. We need the others to open embassies here, too," al-Maliki told reporters.

The direct appeal to Arab heavyweights highlights the regional dilemma posed by Iraq.
Sunni Arabs have a strong stake in keeping Iraq — which is majority Shiite — firmly in the Arab orbit as a buffer against expanding influence by Iran, the largest Shiite nation. But Arab neighbors are still leery of al-Maliki's government and the deep Iranian ties of its main backers.
Al-Maliki is hoping that the ongoing crackdown against Shiite militants — principally al-Sadr's fighters — will allay their fears of Iranian leanings and a bias against his own Sunni population — which long held a privileged position under Saddam Hussein.

But he also pointed the finger at "some nations" he claimed were supporting extremist groups and "inciting strife through the media" — an apparent reference to Arab satellite TV stations based in the Gulf which the leadership here considers hostile to the government.
"I am a bewildered by the position of these nations," al-Maliki added, without specifically naming a country. "Do they want to support Iraq? Iraq has emerged from a crisis and needs to be supported."

U.S. officials have accused Iran — which will attend the Kuwait conference — of supporting Shiite extremists in Iraq, an allegation the Iranians deny.

The United States, too, has pressed Arab governments to respond to security improvements and political advances in Iraq with financial and political support. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who visited Baghdad on Sunday, is scheduled to be at the Kuwait meeting to lend support to Iraq.

Last weekend, al-Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran, threatened in a Web site statement to declare full-scale war on the U.S.-backed government if attacks on his followers continue.
In Najaf, a top Sadrist spokesman, Salah al-Obeidi, warned tha