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Weekly UpdatesPresident Obama has chosen to make his first state visit abroad to be to Turkey, a Sunni democracy which he sees as a good model for the Muslim world. He is due to arrive in Ankara on April 6. It is not clear yet whether he would also visit Iraq.
The Obama administration has offered to talk to America's enemies across the globe, especially in the Greater Middle East (GME). In Ankara, Obama will take up a joint Saudi-Turkish efforts to bring about warmer relations between the US and Russia (see news7RussiaTurk&WahhabiRevsnsmAug11-08). Obama is also counting on joint Saudi-Turkish efforts to bring about peace in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Ankara having hosted summit talks between the leaders of the latter two countries. For its part, Saudi Arabia is having a dialogue with moderate Taliban leaders with the aim of joining the Kabul government and ending the insurgency of the Neo-Salafi movement (see news5AfghanTestFeb2-09).
Obama's emissaries to the region have made it clear that his new administration is keener on cultivating its foes than courting its friends. Concern that the US may abandon its allies, or even seek a reversal of alliances, has led to a number of panic moves by regional powers.
In Iraq, concern about an American retreat has divided the Kurds, Washington's strongest allies in the country. Barzani is forging an alliance with Turkey, while Talabani argues that once the Americans leave only Iran could protect the new Iraq, in which Kurds and Shi'ites dominate.
Turkey and the Saudi-led Sunni Arab front, on the other hand, will not let Iran control Iraq. Nor would the US let Iran replace it in Iraq, with the EU powers also keen in limiting Iranian influences in the GME. Russia and China are also opposed to Iranian attempts to control Iraq.
In recent weeks, Tehran has played host to a dozen presidents and prime ministers from Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East. In every case, the idea was to make a deal with Tehran before Obama was to negotiate a special bargain with the theocracy.
Anti-US Iraqis Mark 6th Anniversary Of US Occupation: On March 20, American flags were set on fire to chants of "no, no for occupation" as followers of the anti-US Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr marked the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war. In Baghdad and five other Iraqi cities, Sadrists either marched or stood in protest after Friday prayers to demand the release of their allies detained at Iraqi and US-run prisons.
The protests came as a Neo-Salafi suicide bomber in Falluja killed an Iraqi police officer and five other people, including civilians, in an attempted attack on the home of the local leader of tribal Sunni awakening movement who turned against al-Qaeda. Also, two road-side bombs exploded within 10 minutes of one another after sundown on March 20, wounding four policemen and three civilians - all Shi'ite - in Baghdad's Karradah district. A police colonel and his aide were wounded in a bombing on March 20 in Tikrit.
In Baghdad Sadrist Shaikh Haidar al-Jabiri urged supporters to join an April 9 march to protest the six-year anniversary of Americans taking over the city. Addressing worshippers gathered in Baghdad's Shi'ite district of Sadr City for Friday sermons, Jabiri said: "Today, a remembrance of the cruel occupation of Iraq, and on April 9, there will be a chant for liberation". He added: "Sayyed Muqtada invites you to march by the millions on April 9, the anniversary of the cruel occupation". (Baghdad fell to US forces on April 9, 2003. The war began with a missile and bombing attack on south Baghdad before dawn on March 20, 2003 - March 19 in Washington).
A similar planned march last year was cancelled. Sadr's previous demonstrations attracted thousands of supporters, but never reached 1m. Demonstrators on March 20 responded by lifting a banner reading: "To the Iraqi government, when you will be trustful and release our detainee sons?" - "No, no for occupation. Yes, yes for liberation. Yes, yes for Iraq", the demonstrators chanted.
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