Iraqi official warns of civil war if US troops leave

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's foreign minister said yesterday that the country's security forces were overstretched trying to control violence in Baghdad and that all-out civil war would be the result if American forces left, as many US Congress members have demanded.

The minister, Hoshyar Zebari, made his comments at a wide-ranging news conference in which he also said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shi'ite Muslim-led government remained stable.

Iraq's conspiracy-happy political circles have swirled with rumors of an imminent no-confidence vote in Parliament against Maliki's government -- although, with the main Sunni Arab bloc boycotting the legislative body, it is questionable what effect such a vote would have.

"There is rising speculation about the stability of the government," Zebari said. "These speculations are exaggerated." But the fact that Zebari felt the need to raise the topic at a news conference, without being asked about it, suggested that the government was feeling pressure. In addition to the boycott of the 44-member Sunni bloc, the 30 members of the Shi'ite bloc loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr are boycotting the Legislature. The Sadrists lately have stepped up their angry rhetoric against the government, which they say should set a timeline for the departure of US forces.

Maliki owes his election as prime minister to the Sadr bloc, and the cleric remains technically allied with Maliki. If Sadr were to break the link, Maliki's standing would be severely undercut.

The Sadrists and the Sunni bloc are angry over new oil-industry legislation, which Maliki has urged Parliament to pass to satisfy White House demands for political progress. The Sunnis say the bill should not be passed until constitutional reforms to spell out regional powers over natural resources are completed. Many Sadrists say the bill is being pushed by the United States because it would allow foreign investment in the industry, something they say is a plot to give American companies control of Iraqi oil.

The United States says the law would help end Iraq's violence by spreading oil wealth among Sunni, Shi'ite, and Kurdish regions.

At his news conference, Zebari also expressed concern over what he called a huge buildup of Turkish troops near the border with northern Iraq. He said intelligence estimates put the number of soldiers at 140,000. Bush administration officials said satellite images did not indicate such a buildup.

Turkish officials accuse rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party of staging attacks on Turkey from bases in northern Iraq's Kurdish region, and last week the Turkish foreign minister said the government and military had drawn up plans for a cross-border raid to go after rebels, if deemed necessary.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said there was "a substantial presence" of Turkish troops engaged in counterterrorism operations in southeast Turkey near Iraq, and that such a deployment was not unusual when the party traditionally goes on the offensive in the spring. He also expressed skepticism about the 140,000 figure.

"I would steer you away from that number of troops being immediately along the border," McCormack said.

Zebari said the Iraq government was trying to arrange talks among Turkey, Iraq, and the United States "as soon as possible" to defuse the situation.

At least 19 people were killed or found dead in the latest violence in Baghdad.

They included 12 factory workers abducted Sunday in southeastern Baghdad as they rode to work in a factory van. They were found shot to death, police said.

Four roadside bombs exploded in parts of the capital, killing at least six civilians and one police officer, according to police and hospital officials.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.