Sunnis doubt new deal

BAGHDAD -- Sunni politicians applauded goals set down in an agreement hammered out by the country's top leaders under intense American pressure but expressed doubt Monday that the U.S.-backed prime minister would actually see them through.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and four other senior leaders declared Sunday they had reached a consensus on a number of issues, including freeing detainees held without charge, easing the ban on former Saddam Hussein supporters in government posts, regulating the oil industry and holding provincial elections.

No details were released, and most measures require parliamentary approval.

But in a step toward implementing the deal, U.S. and Iraqi officials announced that coalition forces would increase the number of detainees released during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins next month.

"Releases will start as early as this week and continue through the end of Ramadan," the U.S. command said in a statement. It did not say how many would be freed.

President Bush hailed the agreement, saying it "begins to establish new power-sharing agreements."

"These leaders ... recognize the true and meaningful reconciliation that needs to take place," Bush said in a brief statement Monday upon arrival in Albuquerque, N.M. "They recognize this is a process. Yesterday's agreement reflects their commitment to work together for the benefit of all Iraqis to further the process."

However, the deal did not convince the main Sunni Arab political bloc to take back the government posts they abandoned this month over differences with al-Maliki, a Shiite.

The Sunni walkout has paralyzed the government ahead of a crucial report to Congress by Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus, which will likely determine the fate of the troubled U.S. military mission in Iraq.

Some key Sunni figures dismissed the agreement as a stalling tactic by al-Maliki to ease pressure from Washington.

"Our position is that this meeting represents a new phase of procrastination and does not honestly aim at solving the problems quickly," said Khalaf al-Ilyan, a leader of the Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front. "I think that no real or practical solution will come out of this."

Another Front leader, Adnan al-Dulaimi, said the accord included "good decisions that would serve the whole Iraqi people."

"But we doubt that they will be implemented," he said. "All our experience with al-Maliki indicates that this is another new set of delaying measures. They give you a glimmer of hope, but at the end of the day you get nothing but promises."

With opposition to the war mounting in the United States, American diplomats have been pressing for the Iraqis to demonstrate political progress ahead of the Sept. 15 report to Congress.

U.S. officials are confident they can point to progress in curbing violence, but Crocker has expressed frustration over the lack of movement toward political reconciliation among the Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions.

On Monday, Crocker called Sunday's accord an "important step forward for political progress, national reconciliation and development."

An American official said the Sunday accord represents "a step in the right direction" but acknowledged the Iraqis remain far from wide-ranging power-sharing agreements considered essential for lasting peace.

"This by no means seems to solve all the problems," the U.S. official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions. "The issues remain very complex. There's still tensions there."

Among the complications are political differences within the Sunni bloc, with some factions little interested in taking part in discussions which might shore up the Shiite-dominated government.

The five leaders who signed the accord included the Sunni vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, who held out for weeks before agreeing to the Sunni walkout. He said the agreement represented "the beginning of relief for the political process."

Iraqi officials have in the past announced deals on contentious issues, only to have them fall apart over the details.

With the political system in disarray, violence has continued.

The U.S. military on Monday announced the deaths of four more American service members.

Two Marines were killed in Anbar province -- one on Saturday and the other Sunday -- while two soldiers died Sunday in a firefight in Samarra that saw a dozen insurgents killed, the military said.

Some 30 masked insurgents attacked a U.S. outpost Sunday, triggering the gunbattles that ended when a U.S. jet bombed a house where gunmen had taken refuge. In addition to the dead, 14 insurgents were captured, the military said.

Iraqi officials said eight people were killed. Police and hospital officials identified the dead as Mohammed Abdul-Wahab, his mother, wife and five of his young children.

U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly told The Associated Press he had reports of two civilian casualties, a male and a female who were in a taxi during the initial firefight.

"Any civilian casualties are truly regrettable, but it is important to understand that our forces are there to secure the people of Samarra and bring them peace, not bring them harm like the insurgents did," Donnelly said.

Also in Anbar, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt among worshippers at evening prayers in Fallujah, killing the mosque preacher and eight other people, police said. They said 10 people were wounded.

A sniper killed a Shiite pilgrim on a Baghdad bridge Monday while another was killed and a dozen wounded in other attacks as hundreds of thousands of Shiites made their way to the southern city of Karbala for a religious commemoration.

Iraqi security forces have mounted a major security operation to protect the pilgrims. Sunni extremists, including al-Qaida in Iraq, have launched deadly attacks against pilgrims during past celebrations.

Despite the security measures, one pilgrim was shot on a bridge in Baghdad and men hiding in an orchard south of the capital opened fire, killing one pilgrim and wounding three.

Also Monday, pilgrims angry over strict security measures clashed with police in Karbala, setting fire to vehicles, officials said. Three people were killed and 13 wounded in the ensuing melee, hospital officials said.

The celebrations mark the birth of Mohammed al-Mahdi, the 12th and last Shiite imam who disappeared in the 9th century.