Officials decry growing Iran role
WASHINGTON -- Iranian support for militias in Iraq has grown, top U.S. defense leaders said Friday, asserting that recent battles in Basra gave the Iraqis an eye-opening view of Iran's increased negative role there.
More broadly, the outlook for more progress toward stabilizing Iraq and reducing the U.S. troop presence is clouded by several other potential pitfalls in coming months, including the prospect of increased violence with the approach of provincial Iraqi elections this fall, Gen. David Petraeus said in an interview at the Pentagon with a group of reporters.
Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, also cited the return of refugees and the release of security detainees as potential sources of instability to be considered as he determines when, and at what pace, U.S. troop withdrawals should resume after July.
In separate remarks, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. will be as aggressive as possible to counter the increase in Iranian support for militias, adding that the Iraqis "are in a position themselves to bring some pressures to bear on Iran."
Speaking after a series of hearings on Capitol Hill mapping out progress in Iraq, Gates also acknowledged that future troop withdrawals will go more slowly than he had initially hoped last year.
Iran's role has been one of the complicating factors.
"I think that there is some sense of an increased level of supply of (Iranian) weapons and support to these groups," said Gates, referring to what the military has termed "special groups" of Shiite militants. "But whether it's a dramatic increase over recent weeks, I just don't know."
Gates, meanwhile, said Friday that he doubts Muqtada al-Sadr would be subject to arrest by U.S. forces. Al-Sadr is believed to be in Iran while elements of his militia in the Sadr City section of the capital fight Iraqi government troops supported by the U.S. military.
Asked if an arrest was possible, Gates said: "I would be surprised along those lines -- a move to arrest him. He is a significant political figure. We want him to work within the political process. He has a large following. It is important that he become a part of the process, if he is not already."
Gates said anyone who is prepared to "work within the political process in Iraq, and peacefully, are not enemies of the United States."
Petraeus told reporters that al-Sadr's organization has to be reckoned with.
"It is a movement that must be addressed and, to varying degrees, accommodated," Petraeus said. He added that he hopes al-Sadr will maintain the cease-fire he declared last August.
"We are concerned about the maintenance of the cease-fire," Petraeus said. "It has been one of the three or four most important factors in reducing the level of violence" since late summer.
A senior aide to al-Sadr was assassinated Friday in the holy city of Najaf, officials said. Authorities immediately announced a citywide curfew and security forces were seen deploying on the streets. The killing threatened to raise tensions amid a violent standoff between al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and the U.S.-backed Iraqi government.
Mullen, appearing alongside Gates at the news conference, said he regards al-Sadr as "somewhat of an enigma."
"So, I think Sadr clearly is a very important and key player in all this," Mullen added. "Exactly where he's headed and what impact he'll have long term, it's, I think, is out there still to be determined."
While Gates said troop withdrawals will go more slowly than he initially wanted, he reiterated that he is "confident that we will have a lower number of troops" in Iraq next year.
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AP Military Writer Robert Burns contributed to this report.
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