BAGHDAD — Iraqi legislators suspended parliamentary sessions Thursday until the end of the month to mark the Muslim religious season — the end of much-delayed efforts to pass U.S.-backed legislation aimed at achieving national reconciliation this year.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, meanwhile, welcomed a report from his top commander in Iraq that violence has declined 60 percent in the last six months. But Gates warned that “people are getting impatient” for the Iraqi government to take advantage of improved security and move toward needed political reforms.
The Sunni speaker of parliament announced the decision to suspend sessions after days of debate over a draft bill that would allow thousands of former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party to return to their government jobs. The measure is among the 18 benchmarks set by the United States to encourage reconciliation.
Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said the legislative body would not hold another session until the end of December because many lawmakers would be traveling to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the annual Islamic pilgrimage.
Others were expected to leave the capital to spend Eid al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice, with their families elsewhere in Iraq or abroad. The holiday begins around Dec. 20.
The suspension was the latest setback to efforts by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite-dominated government to bring minority Sunnis into the political process.
The 275-member parliament came under criticism over the summer for taking the month of August off despite the lack of progress on passing the legislation, including a law to ensure the equitable distribution of Iraq’s oil riches.
Many lawmakers have residences in neighboring Jordan, and the chamber rarely holds a full house.
U.S. officials had hoped that approval of the benchmark laws would help bridge the sectarian gap between Sunnis and Shiites. Congress set 18 benchmarks and directed President Bush to provide progress reports in July and September as a condition for supporting the U.S. mission here.
The Iraqis have received mixed reviews in both reports, and the Americans have shifted their focus to supporting Sunnis at a grassroots level as many tribal leaders and residents have joined forces against extremists, lowering the number of attacks to levels not seen since January 2006.
Yet violence continued Thursday, with nine Kurdistan regional guards killed and at least five injured after militants attacked their headquarters outside a town in Iraq’s Diyala province, Iraqi army officials said.
The assault is part of a campaign against Iraqi law-enforcement personnel, whom militants have slammed for their cooperation with U.S.-led forces.
