Baghdad security plan must succeed -Iraq's speaker

BAGHDAD, Feb 7 (Reuters) Iraq will face serious consequences, including the collapse of its political system, if a U.S.-backed security plan in Baghdad fails, Iraq's parliament speaker warned today.

US and Iraqi forces are preparing to launch an offensive against militants in the Iraqi capital that is regarded as a last attempt to prevent all-out civil war between politically dominant Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs.

''We hope the plan will work because it is considered the last chance for the US administration and the new political system in Iraq,'' Mahmoud Mashhadani told Reuters.

''If it fails, then the US administration will fail in its political project and the political project in Iraq will disintegrate completely.'' Mashhadani, an outspoken politician, has often annoyed some officials with his criticism of ministers including the prime minister, or when silencing deputies in parliamentary sessions, including deputies from his own Sunni Arab bloc.

He said his warning should be seen as encouragement for people to do their best in implementing the plan and for the Iraqi people to support it.

''I do not have a clear scenario for what will happen if this plan fails, but I can say it will be worse and I say that in pain.

We say this to push people to give their best.'' ''Therefore we cannot risk and not make it work. You can expect all sorts of depressing scenarios after that,'' he said.

MEASURING SUCCESS Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki has said the plan will target militants regardless of their religion, raising expectations he will crack down on the Mehdi Army militia of political ally Moqtada al-Sadr.

The Pentagon says the militia is the biggest threat to Iraq.

Shi'ite officials have voiced similar fears about the plan failing, saying the Shi'ite-led government could collapse.

The Shi'ite majority, once oppressed under Saddam Hussein and tasting power in the Sunni Muslim-dominated Arab world for the first time in centuries, is anxious not to lose its hold on Iraq and its oil wealth.

Mashhadani said he supported the plan, although it lacked genuine political support from some groups, which he did not identify.

''So far political support for the plan has been in speeches only. They say 'we support the plan' as a slogan but truly they do not support it,'' he said, without elaborating.

A measure of the success of the plan would be when ''Iraqi citizens feel completely safe'', he said.

''If we could secure the lives of the Iraqi people and begin reconstruction, this is the measure for success.

''We do not want to kill others, but we just want to send the message (to insurgents and militias) saying -- 'Enough!''' REUTERS BDP PM2331