Maliki insists he's securing the peace

BAGHDAD, April 17 (UPI) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki insisted national security forces are on the brink of defeating al-Qaida as the situation in Iraq turns deadly.

"We are today more confident than anytime before that we are close to the point where we can declare victory against al Qaida ... and its allies," Maliki told European lawmakers Wednesday.

A deadly suicide bombing in northern Iraq Thursday, the retreat of Iraqi forces from a fight in Sadr City and scores of attacks in the northern city of Mosul, however, underscored the remarks by the Iraqi premier, the McClatchy Newspapers said.

An anonymous Iraqi security official told CBS News Thursday violence in Baghdad's Sadr City was so bad it was too dangerous to go out in the streets.

The response by Shiite militias against Iraqi security forces cast doubt among many observers that the Iraqi forces could stand on their own without U.S. military assistance, CBS said.