- BAGHDAD (AFP) -- A key Shiite
member of Iraq's ruling coalition called Saturday for the complete withdrawal
of foreign troops from his country and rejected the possibility of permanent
bases.
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- Ammar Hakim, a leading figure of the Supreme Islamic
Iraqi Council (SIIC), told a gathering celebrating the Muslim holiday of
Eid al-Fitr: "We will work not to have fixed bases for foreign troops
on Iraqi lands."
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- He also called on American forces to be more careful
in their use of force after recent bombings killed civilians in a Shiite
village north of Baghdad and in a Sunni area northwest of the Iraqi capital.
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- "We are working to enter into a security agreement
with the international community to ensure that Iraq retrieves its full
sovereignty," he said.
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- Hakim is the son of SIIC leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and
has played an increasingly prominent role in recent months as his father
recovers from cancer.
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- The SIIC is one of the largest parties in the Iraqi parliament
and a key supporter of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government.
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- "We express our deep sorrow at the civilian citizens
killed by multi-national forces as happened at al-Jayzani and in other
regions," said Hakim. "We wish them to be more cautious in dealing
with the citizens."
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- A double US air strike eight days ago on the village
of Jayzani, 30 miles north of Baghdad, killed 25 people US commanders said
were Iranian-linked militants but which Iraqi authorities said included
women and children.
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