Los Angeles Times
May 19, 2007
BAGHDAD —
Three mortar shells slammed into this city's Green Zone today during an unannounced visit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who ends his time in office next month crippled by the unpopularity of the Iraq war.
Blair repeated that he saw "real signs of change and progress" in Iraq.
In a news conference, Blair said good news in the country was being obscured by disproportionate attention paid to the car bombs, mortar fire and attacks.
"Look, there are mortar attacks and terrorist attacks happening everyday. That's the reality," Blair said. "The question is: What are we going to do in the face of these attacks?"
The U.S. Embassy said that the mortar attacks left an Iraqi with minor injuries and caused no other casualties. The U.S. military announced that five American soldiers were killed on Friday and today.
Pressed to specify what progress he saw, Blair deferred to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. The Iraqi leader cited Al Anbar province, where Sunni sheiks have lent their support to the U.S.-Iraqi security plan for the region, and Kurdistan where he said the number of car bombs has dropped "from 10 to 14 before, and to two to three a day now."
Maliki acknowledged that the extent of violence in the country remains extreme, and he blamed terrorists "being financed from abroad and those who want this government to fail."
Behind closed doors, Maliki told Blair that he was specifically concerned about support being offered to militants from sources in other Gulf states and Saudi Arabia, according to a source privy to the talks.
Maliki also brought up concerns that other political powers might be working toward a coup in Iraq, but Blair reassured him that neither Britain nor the U.S. would support such a move, the source said.
Britain has almost completed the process of pulling about 1,600 troops out of Iraq, leaving a force of around 5,500 based mainly on the fringes of the southern city of Basra.
Troops levels are likely to fall below 5,000 in late summer, but Blair has said British soldiers will stay in the Basra region until at least 2008 to train local forces, patrol the Iran-Iraq border and secure supply routes.
The British military decided that Prince Harry, third in line to the throne, will not carry out a planned tour of duty in southern Iraq with his regiment because of specific threats to his life.
garrett.therolf@latimes.com
Staff writers Ned Parker and Said Rifai, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.