Despite public anger over Lebanon, the Shiite political establishment has too
much to lose politically by risking its ties with the Americans over the fate of
Hezbollah.
Nevertheless, al-Maliki, a former Shiite activist who spent years in exile in
Syria, has condemned Israel's offensive and has complained that the United
States and the international community have not done enough to stop it.
Al-Maliki told reporters he would convey that message personally to Bush.
"The hostile acts against Lebanon will have effects on the region and we are
not far from what is going on in Lebanon," al-Maliki said. "We will speak with
the United Nations and American government to call for a cease-fire quickly."
Al-Maliki spoke following the first meeting of a government committee formed
to reconcile Iraq's disparate sectarian and political groups, but differences
emerged immediately between top Shiite and Sunni officials over the issue of
amnesty for insurgents.
Al-Maliki told reporters that despite his proposal for amnesty for some
insurgents, "all those whose hands were tainted with blood should be brought to
justice."
But the Sunni speaker of parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, snapped back,
saying that "if we punish a person who killed an American soldier, who is an
occupier, we should punish the American soldiers who killed an Iraqi who fought
against occupation."
Most of the insurgents who have been fighting US forces are Sunnis. The
United States and the Iraqi government have sought to reach out to selected
insurgent groups in hopes of convincing them to lay down their arms.
In other news Saturday:
- 10 Iraqi soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb struck a convoy in
Karmah, west of Fallujah in the insurgent stronghold of Anbar province, police
Lt. Ahmed Ali said.
- Three people died and five were injured in a bombing and shooting in
the market in Baqouba, where US forces killed five civilians the day before. The
US military expressed regret over the civilian deaths and blamed extremists for
putting civilians in danger.
- An American soldier died Thursday of a non-combat related injury, the
US military reported. He was assigned to the 43rd Military Police Brigade.
- One civilian was killed when masked gunmen attacked Iraqi police in
Mosul, and three gunmen died in an a separate firefight with police
there.