By NNN-KUNA
Washington : The reconciliation agreement signed by the top five political leaders in Iraq on Sunday was a welcome development and “a good step forward,” State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.
The deal calls for the release of thousands of Iraqi prisoners being held without charge, as well as a revision of the Iraqi de-Baathification law that has kept thousands of members of the political party of ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein out of government jobs. However, analysts expect the deal to face a stiff battle in the Iraqi parliament.
The agreements need to be implemented and “turned into facts on the ground, ” Casey said during a department briefing Monday.
The fact that the major political factions in Iraq have been able to reach agreement on this fairly sensitive issue is “welcome and positive, and now what we want to do is encourage them to be able to move forward and take that agreement and implement it, and again, to do so in a way that it will be seen to have meaningful effect and impact on the streets in Iraq,” he said.
“Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is a good man with a tough job to do,” Casey said, but the United States is committed to working with him and the broader government he represents to help the Iraqi people achieve their political aims and objectives.
“We have seen today some positive signs and a positive step forward in this agreement that has been reached among some of the major political leaders, presidency council among others,” Casey said.
Ultimately what matters to the Iraqi people and to the success of events in Iraq is going to be a combination of military activities that the United States and coalition forces are undertaking, as well as progress on important political issues that are required for Iraq to manage its own affairs in the way that the people would want them to, Casey said.
US efforts with the Iraqis will be to focus on helping them implement these agreements and develop further ones, including a new Iraqi oil law, that may be required to deal with other questions of national reconciliation, Casey said.