Iraq Press Roundup

Shiite leaders push for Hashimi, Rafsanjani meeting

Iraqi government officials said an influential Shiite cleric is pushing for Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi to meet with Iran's Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Sot al-Iraq reported Wednesday.

Rafsanjani arrived in Baghdad for a five-day visit earlier this week to meet with top officials in Iraq. The Sunni vice president has refused to meet with the Iranian leader, however, saying Tehran played a role in destabilizing Iraq.

Hashimi had planned a meeting with Rafsanjani earlier in the week but canceled following statements from his party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, saying the visit was unwelcome.

Salih al-Haidari, the leading cleric in the Shiite Endowment community organization, called on the Iraqi vice president to meet with the visiting former Iranian president.

Hashimi boycotted a welcoming ceremony for Rafsanjani on Monday and had refused to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he visited Iraq last year.

Politics according to the Sadrists

Leaders with the Sadrist Movement of anti-American cleric Moqtada Sadr are using education in an attempt to find solutions to Iraq's problems, Kitabat reported Wednesday.

Sadrists had earned a reputation as criminals but said infiltrators had spoiled their reputation. These allegations hurt the movement, however, forcing many of the well-intentioned members to abandon the party.

Sadrist leaders are objective officials, the report said. Few of the members of the movement have come forward with claims the party was purely benign, understanding that, like any organization, it is subject to infiltration by some bad elements who have committed mistakes.

Several party members were also in the movement in order to carry out their own personal agendas, failing to consider any calls for reform.

Sadr, however, has called for an end to certain activities in order to provide assurances the party was ready to make the necessary changes needed to move Iraq forward.

Candidates supported by Sadrists managed moderate gains in the January provincial elections.

Iraqis take over the security of Basra

Iraqi forces conducted a military campaign east of Basra near the Iranian border as part of a widespread effort to follow criminals and insurgents, al-Mashriq reported Wednesday.

Defense Ministry officials said Iraqi forces conducted Operation Shark in the town of Umm al-Risas Island east of Basra.

Iraq police and military forces arrested 16 suspected criminals, including five men wanted for insurgent activities. The operation also uncovered a cache of weapons and ammunition, the report said.

The city lies along the border of Iraq and Iran and is thought to be a major gateway for cross-border smuggling.

The operation comes as officials in Basra announced they were ready to take over responsibility of the security situation once British forces pull out of the city.

Basim al-Mousawi, a member of the Basra provincial council, issued a statement saying Iraqi forces are the only units on patrol in the region and British forces are in charge solely of their bases.

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(Edited by Daniel Graeber)