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Hillary Clinton, Other Congress Members Visit Baghdad
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=15C3340:A6F02AD83191E1607541039C7E3FEDC29574F7DCC14957C0 Wife of former
president Clinton says delegation wants Iraqi officials to explain
plan to halt Baghdad violence





Senator Hillary Clinton

Senator Hillary Clinton and other members of a U.S. congressional
delegation have met in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki to discuss the sectarian violence in his country.

Clinton is traveling with fellow Democratic Senator Evan Bayh and
Republican Representative John McHugh.  The wife of former president
Bill Clinton says her delegation wants to hear from Iraqi officials
about how they plan to halt the violence in Baghdad.

The U.S. congressional delegation also plans to meet with U.S.
military commanders.

Democrats oppose President Bush's recently announced plan to send more
than 20,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq.  Mr. Maliki says those
additional U.S. forces would support Iraqi troops as they implement
his plan to restore peace to Baghdad.

That plan also would increase money and resources to help the Iraqi
economy.  A U.S. diplomat in Baghdad says some Iraqi leaders worry
that militias could step in and fill the vacuum if local governments
are not able to provide for Iraqis.

Also Saturday, the U.S. military said Iraqi forces detained an imam
suspected of leading a group involved in the murder, torture and
kidnapping of civilians in the northern city of Balad.

Separately, the U.S. military said Iraqi soldiers near Tikrit captured
an insurgent responsible for providing funds, weapons and supplies to
insurgent cells.

In the northern city of Mosul, unidentified gunmen shot and killed an
Iraqi journalist today.  The Committee to Protect Journalists
condemned the killing.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.


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