Iraq is in 'a state of war', admits Jaafari

IRAQ is in "a state of war" as it struggles to overcome the insurgency that has claimed hundreds of lives since the swearing in of a new government earlier this year, the country's prime minister admitted yesterday.

Ibrahim al-Jaafari said a new plan was being put in place to combat militants in an effort to reassure citizens in the embattled country.

He gave few details of the plan but said it was divided into 12 points and included steps to improve intelligence, protect infrastructure and prevent foreign fighters from infiltrating Iraq.

Mr Jaafari said the United States and its coalition partners were trying to help Iraqi forces to take over security from multinational forces. "The people believe that they should depend on themselves, and it is a matter of time. Iraq is now taking major steps in training its forces," he said.

His comments came in the wake of the US suffering heavy casualties while fighting in the north-west of the country. The Iraqi insurgent group Army of Ansar al-Sunna said yesterday its fighters were behind the roadside bombing that killed 14 US marines on Wednesday.

This week, the number of coalition troops to die since the start of the war passed 2,000, more than 1,800 of them Americans, while more than 2,700 Iraqis, about half of them civilians, have been killed in the past four months, according to official figures.

"We will not hesitate in saying this: we are in a state of war," Mr Jaafari said. "It is one of the most dangerous types of war, because it is not conventional, or a war of borders."

He said the new security plan was a follow-up to Operation Lightning that began in Baghdad in May and involved 40,000 soldiers and policemen plus coalition forces.

Earlier yesterday, Iraq's interior minister, Bayan Jabr, said Iraqi security forces had started an operation throughout the country to protect voter registration centres for a planned constitutional referendum and general election.