Visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nourial-Maliki revealed yesterday that he
has ordered a halt to a controversial barrier construction aimed at separating
the capital Baghdad's Sunni and Shiite areas.
Maliki, who was on his first visit to Egypt in the current capacity, made the
remarks during a joint press conference with Arab League Secretary General Amr
Moussa.
Maliki told the reporters that he rejected the construction of the wall and
ordered the halt of the construction on Saturday, adding that there were other
ways to protect Iraqis from bomb attack.
The U.S. army said last week that it was constructing a five-km-long concrete
wall in a northern Baghdad district in the hope of protecting the minority
Sunnis from attack.
At night in recent days, U.S. troops have been deploying around the Sunni
enclave of Adhamiyah to erect a five-kilometre wall made of six-tons concrete
sections.
However, Iraqi politicians have accused the U.S. military of hardening the
city's already bitter sectarian divisions, saying erecting a wall around
Adhamiyah is the height of failure and a bad, faulty step that violates human
rights.
Many local residents also denounced that they had not been consulted and the
wall will make the whole district a prison, which is "collective punishment".
On his part, Moussa highlighted the importance of bringing in together all
Iraqi parties to the negotiating table, saying he has agreed with Maliki to hold
any conference on Iraq either in Baghdad or at the AL headquarters in Cairo.
Egypt was the first leg of Maliki's regional tour. After Egypt, Maliki will
fly to Kuwait and other regional countries for preparatory talks ahead of the
upcoming conferences on Iraq to be held in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm
el-Sheikh on May 3-4.
His regional tour aims to rally support for his government and its efforts to
reduce widespread sectarian violence in the country.