Iraqi violence resumes after weekend curfew lifted

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's president said Saturday that he had been assured that American troops will stay in his country as long as needed, while at least 14 people were killed in explosions and gunfire nationwide as vehicle restrictions were lifted in Baghdad.\nA top U.S. general, meanwhile, said he was "very, very pleased" with the response of Iraqi armed forces in containing recent sectarian bloodshed, disputing critics who said too little was done to quell attacks that killed more than 500 people in the past week.\nGen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command, spent two days in Baghdad meeting with top Iraqi leaders after the Feb. 22 bombing of a golden-domed Shiite shrine in Samarra triggered reprisal attacks against Sunnis that pushed the country to the brink of civil war.\nIraqi security forces blunted the sectarian killing with an \nextraordinary daytime curfew in four flashpoint provinces last weekend, followed by a driving ban in Baghdad on Friday.\nBut with the ban lifted on Saturday, violence resumed, with a bomb exploding at a bus terminal in southeastern Baghdad, killing seven people and wounding 25.\nAbizaid said he was "very, very pleased with the reaction of the Iraqi armed forces during the aftermath of the bombing in Samarra."\nHe warned that more such attacks were likely but added: "We believe that the Iraqi armed forces, in conjunction with the multinational force, can deal with any security problem that may arise."\nThat was a more upbeat assessment than the one given Thursday by the U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey, who told reporters that Iraqi police and army units had performed "generally well, not uniformly well."\nCasey said the mostly Shiite security forces sometimes gave armed sectarian fighters free rein in Baghdad and Basra, where reprisal attacks against Sunni mosques and clerics took days to contain.\nU.S. officials have expressed concern about the role of private militias in the violence.\nBut Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr said Saturday the government was making progress \nintegrating militiamen into its structures. Some are joining the security forces, but most will be given jobs in government departments, while those over age 50 will retire, he said at a news briefing.\nThe question remained whether militiamen would comply and whether the government would get tough on enforcing the integration policy.\nSunni Arab politicians accuse militiamen operating within the Interior Ministry ranks of kidnapping and killing their people under the cover of fighting the Sunni-dominated insurgency. Jabr denies the accusations.\nEarly Sunday, Interior Ministry commandos stormed a Sunni mosque in west Baghdad, killing three people -- including the mosque imam and his son -- in a 25 minute gunbattle, police said. The cause of the clash was not known nor was the name of the Sunni cleric who was killed.\nU.S. forces blocked off the area after the exchange of fire, which also wounded seven people, said police Lt. Maitham Abdul Razzaq.\nThe surge of sectarian killing has complicated already tangled negotiations to form a broad-based government after the Dec. 15 parliamentary election, which U.S. officials consider essential to stabilize the country so American troops can start pulling out this summer.\nSen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, visiting Iraq as part of her duties on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it was imperative that Iraqi politicians act quickly to get a government in place.\n"The security vacuum will continue to develop if there isn't a permanent and strong leadership soon," Snowe said.\nPresident Jalal Talabani said Abizaid assured him U.S. forces "are ready to stay as long as we ask them, no matter what the period is."\nTalabani, a Kurd, is at the center of a campaign by Sunni, Kurdish and some secular politicians to deny the Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari a second term. The three blocs have asked the dominant Shiite United Iraqi Alliance to nominate another candidate.\nThe Sunni Arab minority blames al-Jaafari for failing to control Shiite militiamen who went on a rampage after the destruction of the Shiite Askariya shrine. Kurds are angry because they believe al-Jaafari is holding up the resolution of their claims to control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.\n"With all our respect to Dr. al-Jaafari, we asked them to choose a candidate who is unanimously agreed on by Iraqis," Talabani said. "I want to be clear, it is not against Dr. al-Jaafari as a person. He has been my friend for 25 years."\nAs the largest bloc in parliament, the Shiite Alliance gets the first chance to form a government, but it must be approved by two-thirds of parliament, support it cannot muster.\nAssociated Press reporters Sameer N. Yacoub, Bassem Mroue and Bushra Juhi contributed to this report.