Iraqi PM orders US to evacuate checkpoints
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki demanded Tuesday that that the United States military remove all of its roadblocks and checkpoints from the streets of Baghdad.
Mr. Maliki’s public proclamation appeared to take American commanders by surprise.
By nightfall, American troops had abandoned several positions in eastern and central Baghdad established last week as part of a search for a missing American soldier. The roadblocks and checkpoints had been blamed by Iraqis for snarling traffic throughout the eastern part of the city.
The demand by Mr. Maliki appeared to be his latest gambit in an increasingly tense struggle for more independence from his American protectors, including greater control over Iraq’s security operations, which are still dominated by American forces.
The withdrawal of the roadblocks and checkpoints was greeted with jubilation in the streets of Sadr City, the densely populated Shiite enclave and bastion of the Mahdi Army militia, where the Americans have focused their manhunt. But the initial American reaction to what Mr. Maliki said was an order, which was publicized in a statement issued by his press office, strongly suggested that it had not been issued in concert with the American authorities.
“Our commanders have his press release and are reviewing how best to address these concerns,” Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said early Tuesday afternoon, about an hour after Mr. Maliki issued his demand.
nytimes
Stumble it!