Rising tensions as Rice, al-Maliki meet

Source: AP

UNITED NATIONS - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's planned meeting Saturday with Iraq's prime minister was their first since a Baghdad shootout involving guards from a U.S. company protecting American diplomats.

Iraq's Interior Ministry has expanded its investigation of the shooting to include six other incidents over the past seven months involving Blackwater USA security guards. That announcement comes amid rising tensions following the shooting Sept. 16 that killed at least 11 Iraqis, including civilians.

Rice's late afternoon talks with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki marked the highest-level encounter between the governments since the incident. On Friday, Rice announced a full review of State Department security in Iraq.

Their meeting comes ahead of the annual U.N. General Assembly session where al-Maliki will see President Bush.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070922/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq;_ylt=Ar2KV3bSs4bCKJErRk.pvZqs0NUE

Which will probably only amount to changing Blackwater's name and saying "See? we're not using Blackwater any more!"

...by waving her hands like a magician...

Source: AP via Yahoo

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer 57 minutes ago
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Saturday with Iraq's prime minister in their first face-to-face talks since a Baghdad shootout involving guards from a U.S. company protecting American diplomats.

Rice and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were among numerous top diplomats and officials from Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria, which the United States accuses of destabilizing Iraq, gathering at the United Nations with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon to discuss Iraq's future.

Neither spoke to reporters as they entered the room for the meeting, which came as a senior Iraqi official in Baghdad said Iraqi investigators have a videotape that shows employees of Blackwater USA opening fire against civilians without provocation on Sept. 16.

At the same time, Iraq's Interior Ministry said it had expanded its investigation of the shooting to include six other incidents involving Blackwater guards over the past seven months .

The developments added to rising U.S.-Iraqi tensions, which shot up following last Sunday's shooting that killed at least 11 Iraqis, including civilians.

Despite that, al-Maliki said before the session that he believed security was improving in Iraq and urged the United Nations to boost its presence in his country.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070922/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq&printer=1;_ylt=AjdiLUltQ3VoZCeVifa0WiSWwvIE

The USA has done a hell of a job destabilizing the entire ME, specially Iraq.

The occupation really does depend on these mercenary forces, and any sovereign government has an absolute right to bar private parties from bearing arms in its territory.

By MATTHEW LEE – 2 hours ago

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki kept a polite distance Saturday as they attended a group meeting and avoided discussion of a Baghdad shootout involving guards from a U.S. company protecting American diplomats.

With tensions soaring over the Sept. 16 incident, Rice and al-Maliki chose not to speak directly at a United Nations gathering at which they were among senior diplomats and officials from Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria, weighing future assistance to Iraq.

Neither Rice nor al-Maliki brought up the matter in the broader talks, according to David Satterfield, the State Department's coordinator for Iraq, who said testily that the two also did not meet separately on the sidelines and that the incident had not been on the agenda.

It was not immediately clear when the last time Rice and al-Maliki have been in such close proximity and not spoken face-to-face. Satterfield told reporters after the meeting that Rice had already spoken by phone with al-Maliki about the matter ...

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcWJu9bbzrJZ7uNHjvMn0BuTGqHQ


A new style of international diplomacy from Boosh's State Department :eyes: