http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iraq/10096763.html


Baghdad: The Iraqi prime minister on Saturday issued his first comment on the new Bush administration plan for restoring security in Baghdad, declaring it "identical to our strategy and intentions."

Nouri Al Maliki, however, continued to avoid naming the Mehdi Army Shiite militia of one of his key supporters as a target of the military operations to cleanse the capital of Sunni insurgents and Shiite militia and death squads.

"Our strategy that aims to control security is based on using force against any outlaws whatever their background or identity," Al Maliki said in a brief appearance aired on state-run Iraqiya television.

He told a small group of Iraqi reporters that "what we have seen in the American strategy is that it is identical to our strategy and our intentions."

He said Washington "will back us but concerning other points that we consider the work of the Iraqi political process and that is an issue between the government and its people."

Earlier, the prime minister office expressed support for Bush's new war strategy but stressed the government would maintain control over military action in Baghdad.

Al Maliki's opinion is that Bush's plan to send 21,500 more US troops to stem the violence in Iraq "represents a common vision and a mutual understanding between the Iraqi government and the American administration," his spokesman said.

But the spokesman, Ali Al Dabbagh, stressed the American forces would be working in support of the Iraqis as they implement al-Maliki's security plan.

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