Gates: US not after permanent bases in Iraq; Maliki: New operation to root out Al Qaeda from Mosul;
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  • Even as reports indicated that the Pentagon was considering the current top general in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus to be appointed as the next chief of NATO by the end of September, debates continued over the future nature of the American troop engagement in the country. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates insisted on January 24 that America had no interest in permanent bases and that the agreement being negotiated with the Iraqi government over the American military presence would not deal with the likely numbers or kinds of force levels. Reports noted that Senators and Congressmen were also expressing concern over the American commitment made in the November 26 framework agreement to defend Iraq against ‘internal and external threats’ and the dangers of getting embroiled in an Iraqi civil war1.

    Meanwhile, insurgent attacks continued with over 15 people getting killed in an attack in Salahuddin province near Baghdad on January 21 and over 35 people getting killed after explosives were detonated by suspected Al Qaeda militants in the northern city of Mosul on January 23. The provincial police chief of the city was also killed by a suicide bomber when he toured the site the next day. Prime Minister Maliki on his part pledged to launch a new operation to root out the Sunni militants who had regrouped in Nineveh province and its capital Mosul, after the military offensives in Baghdad and Anbar provinces2.

    A suicide bomber also attacked a gathering of Sunni leaders belonging to the American-backed Awakening Councils killing 4 of them on January 21. Reports indicated that over 100 Sunni militiamen have been killed in the past month in and around Baghdad and Baquba3.

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