New Iraq PM issues warning as 19 killed

Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki vowed to use "maximum force against terrorism" today, as bombs killed at least 19 people in Baghdad during the first meeting of his national unity Cabinet.

In a fresh reminder of the huge task Mr Maliki faces in reining in bloodshed that has pushed Iraq to the brink of sectarian civil war, blasts hit Baghdad, including one suicide bomber who killed at least 13 people and wounded 18 in a crowded restaurant popular with police. Police and civilians were among the dead.

A day after Mr Maliki formed a Cabinet of Shi’ites, minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds to ease violence and consolidate a US- piloted transition to democracy, US President George W. Bush today said the new government marked a "new day for the millions of Iraqis who want to live in freedom."

President Bush, whose approval ratings have fallen to near lows partly on growing public discontent over a war he launched three years ago to remove Saddam Hussein, said he had called Mr Maliki and other Iraqi leaders to congratulate them.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet met in Baghdad, Mr Maliki, a tough-talking Shi’ite Islamist, said his government would hold out the offer of dialogue to insurgents who lay down weapons. He vowed to reimpose the state’s monopoly on the armed forces, cracking down on militias. "We will use maximum force against terrorism, but we also need a national initiative," he said in reference to previous calls for "national reconciliation" among all Iraqis. "Militias, death squads, terrorism, killings and assassinations are not normal and we should put an end to the militias." As the Cabinet met for the first time since Saturday’s swearing-in in Parliament, a car bomb killed three people and wounded 15 in Baghdad’s western mainly Shi’ite Shula district.

Earlier, a roadside bomb on the eastern bank of the Tigris killed three people and wounded 24 in a blast apparently targeting Iraqi police in a busy commercial street.

Besides dealing with violence that has forced tens of thousands to flee their homes and dumps hundreds of bodies in Baghdad alone every month, Mr Maliki’s strongman approach to Iraq’s woes has raised hopes in Washington that an improvement in security could pave the way for a withdrawal of US troops.

Reading out a government programme to parliament as US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad looked on, Mr Maliki said he will work to complete rebuilding Iraq’s US-trained armed forces so that foreign troops could leave within an "objective timetable." Disputes over who would lead the key interior and defence ministries – in charge of police and the army – meant those two sensitive posts would be left vacant for now. Mr Maliki said he hoped to fill the posts in two to three days. (Reuters)