Prime minister vows to secure country against insurgent attacks

BAGHDAD -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said yesterday that he will work hard to restore security to his strife-torn country, including the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi.

His vow was made as twin bombings at a Baghdad pet market killed at least five people and wounded 57. The blast also killed a number of animals, mostly birds.

Maliki told a visiting US congressional delegation. ``We are keen to march in the correct direction to confront these challenges despite the difficulties."

He later said his government was working on a plan to secure Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province. He said Iraqi forces would work with US troops.

A US military spokesman said this week that American forces are ``very concerned" about the situation in Ramadi because Al Qaeda in Iraq is taking advantage of sectarian differences to make inroads in that city west of Baghdad.

Major General William Caldwell confirmed earlier that about 1,500 combat troops have been moved from Kuwait to Anbar Province to help establish order. He described the deployment as short-term to ensure continuity during summer rotations and said the focus was on quelling the Al Qaeda presence in the area to keeping foreign fighters from crossing over from Syria, which borders Anbar.

In Baghdad, bombs were left in bags at the entrance and in the center of the al-Ghazil market, where Iraqis can go every Friday to buy pets, Lieutenant Ahmed Muhammad Ali said.

Some 10 minutes later, an explosion near a Shi'ite mosque in the eastern Baghdad neighborhood of Jadida killed two civilians and wounded five, Lieutenant Ali Abbas said. The bomb exploded across the street from the Husseiniyat al-Abbas mosque.

Also Sheik Ismat Youniss was gunned down as he was walking to his Shi'ite mosque for Friday prayers in the southern city of Basra, Captain Mushtaq Kadhim said. Maliki had declared a state of emergency Wednesday in the oil-rich southern city.

Gunmen also killed an Egyptian ice cream vendor in his shop in Amarah, 180 miles southeast of Baghdad.

In a move considered key to quelling violence in the country, Maliki said he will fill vacancies in the defense and interior ministries tomorrow, despite not reaching an agreement on candidates with ethnic and sectarian parties.

The appointments, which must be approved by parliament, are the centerpiece of Maliki's plan to take complete control of security in Iraq from US-led forces within the next 18 months.

Maliki apparently decided to go ahead with the appointment of ministers for defense, interior, and the lesser post of national security to end two weeks of uncertainty. The defense and interior minister posts have been temporarily held by Maliki and one of his deputy prime ministers since the Cabinet was sworn in May 20.

``Choosing both ministers is my constitutional right. I am the one who will choose the ministers," he said. ``We are keen to have the opinions and views of the other political blocs on those who are nominated. The delay is because of the difficulties of reaching consensus between the blocs, but we will reach agreement."

He has not divulged the names of the candidates he will put before the 275-member parliament.

The posts are considered an integral part of Maliki's plan to take control of security over its 18 provinces from US-led forces. The transfer is key to an overall American exit strategy that would allow the eventual withdrawal of its 130,000 troops.

It has been agreed that the Defense Ministry post will go to a Sunni Arab. But some candidates were rejected by Shi'ites who contended they had ties to the former regime or by Kurds who said they were connected to a campaign against their community.

The Interior Ministry post will go to a Shi'ite. Sunni Arabs have protested that many Shi'ite candidates had ties to militias.