Iraqi official blames US for Najaf standoff

Iraq's current Governing Council president said Monday the United States has only itself to blame for the military deadlock at Najaf and Fallujah because it allowed its troops to change from "an army of liberation" to "an army of occupation."

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Massoud Barzani said the United States faces a dilemma: It must not be soft in the besieged cities and give insurgents "the impression that they have the upper hand," but it also must make sure civilians are not harmed if military force is used.

The comments from a close US ally in Iraq signal the deepening dissatisfaction between the United States and top Iraqi politicians. Barzani supported the US war effort, and members of his militia fought alongside American soldiers in northern Iraq.

For more than a decade during Saddam Hussein's rule, Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party and another Kurdish party controlled an autonomous area protected by US warplanes. Barzani's forces continue to dominate parts of northern Iraq, a region that has been largely stable and quiet.

Barzani, who holds the council's rotating presidency for April, spoke in one of the ornate marble-tiled rooms of a building once used by Saddam's Ministry of Military Industry, now the offices of the US-appointed Governing Council.

Some members on the council seen by many Iraqis as tainted for their close association with the United States have complained that US commanders have been heavy handed in Fallujah and launched military action without consulting them.

Barzani meets with L. Paul Bremer, the top US official in Iraq, several times a week to exchange views.

When asked whether Bremer consults the council or merely tell them of US decisions, Barzani said: "It depends on the nature ... of the subject."

"The fact that should not be forgotten is that Iraq today is under occupation," Barzani said. "Iraq does not have sovereignty or independence today."

It also is seeing its bloodiest month since the US invasion.

At least 114 American soldiers and up to 1,200 Iraqis have died in April as US soldiers confronted Shia militiamen centered in the Shia holy city of Najaf and Sunni militiamen in the city of Fallujah. US soldiers still surround both cities, unable to force militants to disarm and fearful that assaulting the city would lead to many casualties on both sides.