Shiite, Kurdish feuding deepens

Iraqi president wants PM to quit U.S. general talks of troop pullout

KIRKUK, IRAQ—

Iraq’s Kurdish president called on the country’s Shiite prime minister to step down, the spokesman for the president’s party said yesterday, escalating a political split between the two factions that make up the government.

President Jalal Talabani has accused the Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance, which holds the majority in parliament, of monopolizing power in the government and refusing to move ahead on a key issue for Kurds, the resettlement of Kurds in the northern city of Kirkuk.

“ The time has come for the United Iraqi Alliance and the Kurdistan coalition to study Prime Minister Ibrahim al- Jaafari’s stepping aside from his post,” said Azad Jundiyani, a spokesman for Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. Jundiyani would not say whether the Kurds would withdraw from the government if the Shiite alliance does not back them in removing al- Jaafari. The political dispute deepened as top American commander Gen. George Casey expressed optimism the U. S. and its allies might be able to remove some troops from Iraq next year. Withdrawals will take place as Iraqi security forces increasingly assert themselves, Casey said on CNN’s Late Edition program, a process that is “ very much on track,” even though only one Iraqi battalion is capable of operating on its own. The Kurdish and Shiite blocs have been the bedrock of Iraq’s temporary government. Jawad al- Maliki, a leader in alJaafari’s Dawaa party, denounced the call for his resignation. “ It is not beneficial for Iraq, especially during this period of time because the country is heading to a referendum and elections,” he said.

Iraq is holding an Oct. 15 referendum on a new constitution that leaders of Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority reject, while it is backed by the Shiites and Kurds.

Elsewhere, for a second day, U. S. and Iraqi troops combed the western Iraqi city of Sadah for insurgents loyal to Al Qaeda, witnesses and officials said.