U.S. presence main problem for Iraq - Iran leader

[cal04]

Source: Reuters

Iran's supreme leader told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday the main problem facing Iraq was the presence of U.S. and other foreign forces there, Iranian state radio reported.

"The presence of occupiers in Iraq, particularly the U.S. armed forces ... is the main obstacle to unity in Iraq," Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's highest authority, was quoted as saying during a meeting with Maliki in Tehran.

Iraq, which fought an eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s, is negotiating with the United States on a new agreement aimed at giving a legal basis for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq after Dec. 31, when their United Nations mandate expires.

U.S. officials have accused Iran of seeking to derail the talks by "inspiring" media reports that the United States is trying to force Iraqis to accept a deal on permanent bases.



Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DAH936222.htm

[SpiralHawk]

1. "So?" - VP Dickie 'Five Military Deferments' Cheney

[Maureen1322]

2. I have as much faith in Iranian state radio as I have in Bushco.

[LynnTheDem]

4. The vast majority of Iraqis have been & still are saying the same thing;

the Iraqi problem is the American occupiers.

[LynnTheDem]

3. That's what Iraqis say. But then, Iraqis have been saying that for the past

5 years.

The US "government" doesn't hear what they don't want to hear.