BAGHDAD/AMMAN, 27 October 2004 — Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said yesterday that “gross negligence” by some elements of the US-led military in Iraq was partly to blame for the killing of 49 unarmed army recruits and three drivers on Saturday, as he warned of more violence in the run-up to January elections.

“I think it was because of gross negligence by some elements within the multinational forces,” Allawi told the country’s interim parliament, without giving details. “The killings represent the epitome of what could be done to hurt Iraq and the Iraqi people,” he said, adding that a special investigation had been launched.

He characterized as a “dangerous precedent” the ambush and killing of army basic-training graduates as they were on their way from the Kirkush base near the Iranian border to their homes in the south. Accusations were flying about how the recruits had been left defenseless in the windswept desert plain, cut off from all communication.

Nassir Al-Shadershi, a member of parliament, had earlier accused authorities of failing in “their obligation to protect our own security forces”.

One of his aides told AFP: “obviously the training of Iraq’s security forces is critical, so we will continue our partnership with the Iraqi government to mature the ICF (Iraqi security forces).” The US 1st Infantry Division commands the area where the corpses of the soldiers were discovered on the road between Baladruz and Badra, south of Baquba, a town 60 kilometers northeast of Baghdad.

The US military has been leading the effort in training Iraq’s nascent police, army and national guard at bases like Kirkush near the eastern city of Mandali. But problems ranging from loyalty to lack of proper body amour and to badly protected vehicles continue to plague the force.

And incidents like the soldier massacre has brought to the forefront the danger that Iraq’s forces may have been infiltrated by insurgents. Before Allawi addressed parliament, Interior Minister Falah Naqib spoke of the challenges facing Iraq’s forces, alluding to the risk that some of them may be prone to bribes given the difficult economic conditions facing the country.

Abdul Jalil Mustafa adds from Amman:

Jordan’s King Abdallah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak yesterday stressed the need for the general elections set for January in Iraq to be “comprehensive and cover all Iraqi areas”. Winding up talks that lasted for a few hours at the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, the two leaders urged the world community, particularly the European Union and the Quartet to step in to help the Palestinians and Israelis to resume the peace process, according to a joint communiqué.

The king and the president discussed latest developments in Iraq and “underscored the importance of the planned polling process be comprehensive, cover all Iraqi areas and involve all shades of the Iraqi people’s spectrum”, the statement said. The communiqué reflected concerns on the part of both Egypt and Jordan regarding the possibility of excluding from the elections the so-called Sunni Triangle, where fierce resistance rages against the US-led multinational forces and the allied Iraqi police force and troops.