Iraqi PM says nation still faces threats
By Associated Press
Nov 6, 2011 3:40 AM CST

Iraq's prime minister is urging his security forces to step up their vigilance against violence, saying the country "remains in the circle of danger."

Nouri al-Maliki's comments Sunday come as the last 33,000 U.S. troops in Iraq prepare to leave by the end of the year as required by a 2008 security agreement.

Al-Maliki said the continued threat shows that insurgents still want to prevent Iraq from becoming a stable nation. He did not elaborate.

But over the last several weeks his government has detained 615 people that al-Maliki says are members of Iraq's former ruling Baath Party that was ousted from power in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Sunnis have accused al-Maliki, who is Shiite, of cracking down on Baathists as an excuse to exert political pressure on them.