Top U.S. official urges political progress in Iraq

ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte has said Iraq's leaders need to build on security gains by making more political progress, especially in passing key laws to boost national reconciliation.

With violence sharply down in Iraq, attention has focused on whether the Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki can reach an accommodation with former foes.

Negroponte told a news conference in the Kurdish north of Iraq late on Wednesday the U.S. government welcomed what he called a marked improvement in security in the country.

U.S. envoy John Negroponte speaks during a news conference in Islamabad November 18, 2007. Negroponte has said Iraq's leaders need to build on security gains by making more political progress, especially in passing key laws to boost national reconciliation. (REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood)

"We are hopeful there will be progress on the political front in Iraq commensurate with the security gains that have been achieved in recent months," Negroponte said after talks with Kurdish leaders at a resort town near the city of Arbil.

"Now exists the hope there will be a parallel progress in the political area, particularly in terms of achieving the various pieces of national reconciliation legislation on such matters as oil, regional governance and so forth."

The key laws Washington wants passed include measures to reform a law banning former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party holding office, agreeing how to equitably share Iraq's oil wealth and setting a date for provincial elections.

Attacks across Iraq have fallen by 55 percent since the full deployment of 30,000 extra U.S. troops in mid-June that U.S. President George W. Bush sent to the country.

But it is still far from clear whether the leaders of Iraq's Kurdish, Shi'ite and Sunni Arab political parties are any more willing or able to set aside decades of mistrust and take the steps needed for reconciliation.

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Top U.S. official urges political progress in Iraq