IRAQ MUST SOLVE ITS PROBLEMS BY ITSELF, SAID THE LEADER OF THE SHIITES TO PRESIDENT BUSH
By Petros Keshishian

AZG Armenian Daily
06/12/2006

The head of the Iraqi Islamic Revolution Council Abdel Aziz al-Haqim,
leader of the Shiite movement, said on his meeting with President
George Bush in Washington that he stands categorically against the
international interference to the crisis in Iraq. He said that the
problems must be overcome by the people of Iraq itself.

In his return George Bush said that he is disturbed by the situation
in Iraq and that the Unites States wholly support the Government of
Nouri al-Maliqi.

Al-Haqim, although being the advocate of Iraq’s sovereignty, does
not argue the presence of the US military forces in the country,
BBC reports.

Al-Haqim’s party has the support of the Shiite of Iraq’s population. In
the days of Saddam Hussein he was forced to migrate to Iran. The
military wing of his organization became part of the army and the
police.

Some political scientists think that Bush, having meetings with the
outstanding people of Iraq, is trying to insure the "proper" work of
the Iraqi Government. It is also possible that the US President is
getting prepared to decreasing the number of military forces quartered
in Iraq. It should be noted that the military wing of the Iraqi Islamic
Revolution Council has serious contradictions with Muqtada al-Sadr,
one of the most outstanding preachers of Shiitism, and his "Army of
Mahdi". The confrontation seems to grow into an armed conflict. In
October the Americans even tried to arrest Al-Sadr, but their efforts
remained fruitless.