Negroponte warns Maliki on oil law

Former United States Director of Intelligence, and now number two at State, where he is coordinator of U.S. policy in Iraq, Negroponte's service as Ambassador to Honduras under Reagan was said to include support for the infamous Honduran death squads. He was America's first Ambassador -- and highest ranking civilian -- to Iraq following the transfer of 'sovereignity' in June 2004. In early November, 2006, Negrponte made a surprise visit to Iraq to urge Prime Minister Maliki to take action against Moqtada al-Sadr.

BAGHDAD - Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte visited Baghdad on Tuesday to pressure Iraq's Shiite-led government to complete a series of political reforms designed to reconcile the country's warring sects.

It was the second visit Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki received this week from a high-profile American official; on Sunday, the top military commander for the Middle East, Adm. William Fallon, warned that the Iraqi government needed to make tangible political progress by next month to counter opposition to the war in Congress.

Negroponte, the former ambassador to Iraq, met with al-Maliki at his office in the fortified Green Zone and emphasized the need for accommodation and compromise among the country's combative factions.

Al-Maliki, in a statement after the meeting, said Iraq's government was determined to persuade Parliament to approve several of the proposals the Americans have identified as benchmarks, including an oil law that could more evenly distribute revenues to provinces and among Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds.

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