Iraqi vice president tenders resignation

BAGHDAD – Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi, a senior Shiite politician often mentioned as a potential prime minister, tendered his resignation last week in a move that reflects deepening frustration inside the Iraqi government with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Other senior Iraqi officials have considered resigning in recent weeks over the failures of their government to make progress after more than a year in power, according to Iraqi and U.S. officials.

Abdul Mahdi said he was provoked by the second bombing of the Shiite shrine in Samarra June 13, in which he said corrupt police abetted Sunni insurgents. “The two minarets were as important to us as September 11, and we should be accountable to the people,” Abdul Mahdi said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “We should be doing more to move in a positive direction – on corruption, accountability and defending the important sites.”

Abdul Mahdi’s attempted resignation, which has been held at bay by promises of action, is also a sign of growing disarray among the Shiites who lead the government.

As the U.S. military attempts to show the success this summer of a security plan to pacify the capital and other parts of the country, Iraq’s prime minister has also entered what many officials say they believe is a crucial test period for his government. A growing number of Iraqi leaders, including several fellow Shiites, are expressing discontent with al-Maliki’s ability to stanch the bloodshed, contain civil war, make progress on economic fronts and share power with the minority Sunnis.

“It’s all about what is perceived to be al-Maliki’s centralizing control with the inner circles of the Dawa Party and also not taking on the country’s tough challenges,” said a senior Iraqi politician, referring to the prime minister’s party. The politician said he had read Abdul Mahdi’s resignation letter but would not speak for attribution. “There is growing frustration about the leadership of this country.”

The prime minister’s advisers insist that al-Maliki remains committed to national unity, that his position is secure and that calls for his removal threaten to undermine the fledgling democratic experiment in Iraq. The responsibility for any failures of this government, aides say, would rest equally among the rival factions and not just with the prime minister.