Pat Dollard | Young Americans

BAGHDAD - Sunni politicians applauded goals set down in an agreement hammered out by the country’s top leaders under intense American pressure but expressed doubt Monday that the U.S.-backed prime minister would actually see them through.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and four other senior leaders declared Sunday they had reached a consensus on a number of issues, including freeing detainees held without charge, easing the ban on former Saddam Hussein supporters in government posts, regulating the oil industry and holding provincial elections.

No details were released, and most measures require parliamentary approval.

But in a step toward implementing the deal, U.S. and Iraqi officials announced that coalition forces would increase the number of detainees released during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins next month.

“Releases will start as early as this week and continue through the end of Ramadan,” the U.S. command said in a statement. It did not say how many would be freed.

President Bush hailed the agreement, saying it “begins to establish new power-sharing agreements.”

“These leaders … recognize the true and meaningful reconciliation that needs to take place,” Bush said in a brief statement Monday upon arrival in Albuquerque, N.M. “They recognize this is a process. Yesterday’s agreement reflects their commitment to work together for the benefit of all Iraqis to further the process.”

However, the deal did not convince the main Sunni Arab political bloc to take back the government posts they abandoned this month over differences with al-Maliki, a Shiite.

The Sunni walkout has paralyzed the government ahead of a crucial report to Congress by Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus, which will likely determine the fate of the troubled U.S. military mission in Iraq.

Some key Sunni figures dismissed the agreement as a stalling tactic by al-Maliki to ease pressure from Washington.

“Our position is that this meeting represents a new phase of procrastination and does not honestly aim at solving the problems quickly,” said Khalaf al-Ilyan, a leader of the Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front. “I think that no real or practical solution will come out of this.”

Another Front leader, Adnan al-Dulaimi, said the accord included “good decisions that would serve the whole Iraqi people.”

“But we doubt that they will be implemented,” he said. “All our experience with al-Maliki indicates that this is another new set of delaying measures. They give you a glimmer of hope, but at the end of the day you get nothing but promises.”

Americans have been pressing for the Iraqis to demonstrate political progress ahead of the Sept. 15 report to Congress.

U.S. officials are confident they can point to progress in curbing violence, but Crocker has expressed frustration over the lack of movement toward political reconciliation among the Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions.

On Monday, Crocker called Sunday’s accord an “important step forward for political progress, national reconciliation and development.”

An American official said the Sunday accord represents “a step in the right direction”.

“This by no means seems to solve all the problems,” the U.S. official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions. “The issues remain very complex. There’s still tensions there.”

Among the complications are political differences within the Sunni bloc, with some factions little interested in taking part in discussions which might shore up the Shiite-dominated government.

The five leaders who signed the accord included the Sunni vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, who held out for weeks before agreeing to the Sunni walkout. He said the agreement represented “the beginning of relief for the political process.”

Iraqi officials have in the past announced deals on contentious issues, only to have them fall apart over the details.

(AP)