Sadr pullout may advance Iraq reconciliation: Gates

By Andrew Gray

AMMAN (Reuters) - Radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's move to pull his ministers out of Iraq's government may provide a chance to advance reconciliation in the country, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday.

"There is the opportunity to turn what might seem like a negative potentially into a positive development," Gates told reporters during a visit to the Jordanian capital Amman.

Sadr's political movement announced on Monday its six ministers were quitting Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's shaky coalition because he would not agree to a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq.

Washington, which regards Sadr's Mehdi Army militia as the greatest threat to peace in Iraq, constantly presses Iraq's leaders to speed up reconciliation between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs.

A U.S.-backed security crackdown in Baghdad is seen as a last chance to halt Iraq's slide into sectarian civil war.

Gates, who is on a Middle East tour also scheduled to include stops in Egypt and Israel, suggested Maliki may be able to bring in replacements who could improve relations between Iraq's sectarian groups.

"The impact that ... these resignations have will depend in some measure on who is selected to replace these ministers and their capabilities and whether those vacancies are used in a way that perhaps can further advance the reconciliation process," Gates said.

He did not answer directly when asked if he was advocating the inclusion of more Sunnis in the Shi'ite-led government.

"I think anything that can be done that advances the reconciliation process, perhaps including broadening representation in the cabinet, probably would be a positive thing but that's a judgment that the Iraqi leadership is going to have to make," he said.

Iraqi officials have said non-sectarian technocrats would likely be chosen to fill in the six portfolios, which include health and transportation.

IMPACT UNCLEAR

Gates said it was too early to say whether Sadr's decision would have any effect on the Mehdi army, which has avoided confrontations with U.S. troops in Baghdad since the new security offensive with Iraqi forces began in February.

U.S. military officials say Sadr is in Iran. The young cleric's aides say he is still in Iraq.

Sadr led two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004. Since then, the militia has been involved in tit-for-tat attacks against Sunni Arabs amid spiraling sectarian violence.

Washington on Monday played down the departure of Sadr's ministers, saying it would not bring down Maliki's government.