Ambassador Urges Speedy Reforms in Iraq

BAGHDAD — America's top diplomat in Iraq urged Prime Minister al-Maliki's government to speed up reforms geared toward achieving national reconciliation, saying it was its duty to do so soon.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker listed the adoption of a draft law for the equitable distribution of oil wealth, another to integrate members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party in government departments, amending the constitution to satisfy Sunni Arab demands, and holding local elections as measures that the government had a "responsibility to tackle in the coming weeks."

"These are tasks that must be completed, and completed soon, to achieve national reconciliation," he said in an Arabic-language statement marking the first anniversary of Mr. Maliki's Shiite-dominated government.

"The first anniversary of a democratic government in Iraq is a victory for the people of Iraq. They've chosen their leaders and now it is the right of every citizen in a democratic society to expect measures and decisions from their elected representatives to serve the interests of Iraqis," Mr. Crocker said.

Mr. Crocker's statement provided evidence that Washington has Mr. Maliki's government on notice that it must meet policy benchmarks to secure American support at a time when the Bush administration is under congressional pressure over its Iraq policies.