Mixed reactions to US officials' reports

Baghdad: The testimony given to the US congress by American ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, and American military commander in Iraq, David Petraeus, with regards to the security situation in Iraq, has evoked different reactions among Iraqis. Some have supported their testimony while others opposed it.

"Crocker and Petraeus' testimony against Syria and Iran in particular are related to the tense US relations with Iran and Syria," said Nouri Al A'anizi, a member of the Shiite Dawa Party headed by Nouri Al Maliki.

"I think the Iraqi government has played an important role in strengthening its relationship with both Damascus and Tehran and does not want to be part of a political and media war between these parties under the pretext of a Iraqi situation," he told Gulf News.

For his part, Adel Al Rubaie, an activist in Hezbollah, which is close to Shiite coalition leader Abdul Aziz Al Hakeem, said "We have reservations about the testimony given by Crocker and Petraeus against Iran and its alleged intervention in Iraq's situation because Iran has strongly supported the current political parties that participated in the government in Baghdad in previous eras."

He added to Gulf News, "Iran is the only country in both the Arab and Islamic world that acknowledged the Iraqi Governing Council and it was the first country to open its embassy in Baghdad, besides Iran played a key role in calming the recent events in Basra to the benefit of the Iraqi government."

However, the reaction of Sunnis was different.

"Statements by Crocker and Petraeus were professional especially when they talked about the continued role of Iran in supporting Shiite militia with weapons and money. Events in Basra and Al Sadr neighbourhood in Baghdad prove ... Iran's destructive role in Iraq," Daher Al Qubaisi, a prominent leader in the Sunni Islamic Party told Gulf News.

Luqman Abdul Aziz, a member of the Kurdistan Patriotic Union led by President Jalal Talabani, said their comments "about improvements in Iraq's security situation and Iraqi force's performance proves that the Iraqi government is serious about handling the security file in all Iraqi cities ... especially with the growing capabilities of Iraqi troops. Besides the security improvement confirms that the Iraqi government has achieved true success in reducing sectarian violence in the country."

"Crocker and Petraeus' statements about the role of the awakening forces in improving the security situation would restrain some parties within the government that call to dissolve the awakening forces and integrate them into Iraqi forces," said Salem Jabara, a Sunni awakening leader in Tikrit.