Gates downplays al-Sadr's departure from Iraqi government

Apr 17, 2007, 17:51 GMT

Amman - US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates on Tuesday downplayed the significance of the departure from the Iraqi government by the hard-line group of the defiant Shiite leader, Moqtada al-Sadr, saying it could turn out to be a 'positive' move.

'There is opportunity to turn what might seem like a negative potential into a positive development,' Gates said in remarks to reporters after talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II.

On Monday, Al-Sadr withdrew his ministers from the coalition government led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, citing its failure to come up with a timetable for the pullout of the US-led multinational force from Iraq.

Gates implicitly urged al-Maliki to use al-Sadr's breakaway from the Iraqi cabinet 'in a way that could further advance the reconciliation process.

'Anything that can be done that advances the reconciliation process, perhaps including broadening representation in the cabinet, would probably be a positive thing,' Gates said.

During his talks with Gates, King Abdullah urged the inclusion of all Iraqi groups in the political process if US President George W Bush's latest security plan was to succeed in 'bringing Iraq out of its cycle of violence.'

The king alluded mainly to the Iraqi Sunni community which Jordan and other neighbouring Arab countries believe had been under- represented in the successive Iraqi governments since the downfall of the former Sunni-dominated Iraqi regime of President Saddam Hussein.

Gates was on a visit to Jordan as part of a regional tour which also includes Israel and Egypt.