2 Die in Baghdad Bombing
Monday December 24, 2007 11:01 AM
By PATRICK QUINN
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD (AP) - A bomb hidden inside a minivan exploded
near the Baghdad governor's office on Monday, killing
two people and injuring six others, the latest
violence to mar a relatively calm holiday season in
the capital.
The bomb exploded near the heavily guarded Green Zone,
which houses the Iraqi government, the U.S. and some
other western embassies. It was unclear if it was
detonated remotely or just went off.
Baghdad has been living through some of its most
peaceful moments since the U.S. invasion in 2003.
Violence has dropped by 60 percent in the past six
months, mostly due to a surge by thousands of American
troops, the help of Sunni Arab irregulars on the U.S.
payroll, and a ceasefire by radical Shiite cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army.
Also Monday, a train struck a minivan at an
intersection near the town of Hillah, about 60 miles
south of Baghdad, killing a couple and 11 children,
officials said. Zuhair al-Khafaji, an emergency room
doctor at Hillah general hospital, said some of the
children were the couple's and others were their
nieces and nephews.
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said that recent successes
such as reducing violence have created a new set of
challenges for 2008 - the most important being the
return of refugees and the struggle for political
reconciliation.
An equally significant factor, Ryan Crocker said
Sunday, will be whether neighboring Iran uses its
considerable influence among the Shiite majority to
ease the strife that has torn this country apart - or
instead create further instability.
``The positive developments in the latter half of 2007
represent the challenges of 2008,'' Crocker told
reporters in Baghdad. ``There will be the ongoing
challenges of reconciliation, and if there is a single
overarching issue that will determine the future of
this country that is it for me in one word.''
Others include the return of hundreds of thousands of
Iraqis who have fled to Jordan, Syria and beyond - a
repatriation which Crocker said must be handled
carefully ``so it doesn't sow the seeds of new tension
and instability.''
Equally important will be finding how to reintegrate
the growing numbers of Sunni Arabs joining volunteer
groups funded by the U.S. to fight al-Qaida in Iraq.
There are about 70,000 Sunni irregulars in the groups
known as Awakening Councils - dubbed Concerned Local
Citizens by the U.S. military.
But the Shiite-dominated government is deeply
concerned about the groups, many of which are made up
of former Sunni insurgents who once battled both the
American forces and their Shiite allies.
There are plans to absorb about 20,000 men into the
security forces, and Crocker said America plans to
spend $155 million to help create new jobs and provide
vocational training. The Iraqi government would match
that amount, he added.
``They also present a challenge,'' Crocker said of the
Sunni groups. ``They have got to be accommodated in
some way that meets their needs and concerns, but this
has to be done in a way that also ensures that other
elements of the population and government are
comfortable with.''
Another immense challenge will be how to deal with
al-Sadr's Mahdi Army that has gone from ``militant''
to ``incorporated.''
``It still very much exists as a militia structure,
just smart enough not to be carrying arms through the
streets, but in effect controlling various
neighborhoods - jobs, real estate and gasoline, what
have you. That as a long term challenge is going to be
huge,'' Crocker said.
Nothing in Iraq, however, is clear cut or simple, and
Crocker said external factors such as Iran will
continue to play a big role in the future stability of
the country - which slipped in and out of chaos in the
years following the 2003 invasion by a U.S.-led
coalition.
``If it's a case of the Iranians moving down a road of
using influence to reduce rather than to foment
violence, that is a good thing. They would still in
our view have a way to go,'' Crocker said.
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