Rice Hails Iraq's Progress, Presses for More

BAGHDAD — Secretary of State Rice brought Iraq's leader a double-edged message yesterday: praise for progress toward ending the nation's sectarian rifts, but also a warning not to squander the momentum after many false starts on reconciliation.

The meeting with Prime Minister al-Maliki underscored Washington's push for faster and bolder efforts to heal differences between the Shiite-led government and Iraq's other main groups — Sunni Arabs who were sidelined by the fall of Saddam Hussein and Kurds enjoying an economic boom in their near-autonomous enclave. Meanwhile, oversight for nearly $4 billion in Iraq war contracts has been shifted from a troubled procurement office in Kuwait to an Army organization in Illinois as part of an ongoing effort to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in military purchasing. The Army says the transfer is part of a broader initiative aimed at overhauling the Kuwait contracting office, which the Army had identified as a hub of corruption.

Also, meanwhile, three Army soldiers who were gunned down during a three-hour firefight in the Salahuddin province north of Baghdad last week may have died from friendly fire, military officials said yesterday. The three 101st Airborne Division soldiers were part of an Army company that was attacked on January 8.