http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/25/content_7857324.htmIraq's Sadr threatens "civil disobedience"
www.chinaview.cn 2008-03-25 21:44:54 Print
Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq
BAGHDAD, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr Tuesday called on Iraqis to hold sit-ins across Iraq if attacks by U.S. and Iraqi troops continue against his followers, a Sadr statement said.
"We call on all Iraqis to stage sit-ins in all over the country as a first step, so if the government would not respect our people's demands, the second step would be civil disobedience in Baghdad and all other provinces," Sadr said in a statement read out by senior aide Hazim al-Araji.
The statement warned that there would be a third step, but he did not specify what it would be, only saying "after that we will wait for the third step, which will be declared in time."
Late on Monday, Mazin al-Saadi, a spokesman for the Sadr office in al-Karkh area in western Baghdad, said that sit-ins began in some areas in Karkh and would move to other areas in Baghdad as well as other provinces if the government fails to meet the demands of Sadrists.
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http://www.agoravox.com/article.php3?id_article=7918Sadrists’ Civil Disobedience Campaign
On Tuesday morning, major clashes broke out between government security forces and local Basra militias (including the Mahdi Army) that sent black smoke billowing in the air above the oil port. A strict curfew was imposed and schools were closed. Reuters reports:
’ "Basra is half empty. There are no vehicles and no one is going to work. People are afraid to go out," said a military official in the city, speaking on condition of anonymity. A hospital source said "tens of wounded" were arriving at hospitals and that some were too busy to accept more casualties. ’
Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the Sadr Movement announced a "civil disobedience" campaign on Monday in every region of Iraq. The Sadr Movement follows Shiite cleric Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr. The movement is complaining that the government continues to target is supporters.
McClatchy reports of Baghdad:
’ On Monday, the Sadrists all but shut down the neighborhoods they control on the west bank of Baghdad. Gunmen went to stores and ordered them to close as militiamen stood in the streets. Mosques used their loudspeakers to urge people to come forward and join the protest. Fliers were distributed with the Sadrists’ three demands of the Iraqi government: to release detainees, stop targeting Sadrist members and apologize to the families and the tribal sheiks of the men. ’
On Monday Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki arrived in Basra at the head of a big security force, at the beginning of the major security sweep of that city that produced Tuesday’s fighting. It is being rumored, al-Hayat says, that the prime minister is planning to remove the military commander in the city, Gen. Mohan Hafiz al-Furayji, as well as the police chief, Major-Gen. Abdul Jalil Khalaf. UPI says that he will attempt to institute a tighter command and control structure in the city. Although the US had been putting pressure on Britain to send some of its troops from the airport back into Basra city, Gordon Brown appears to have resisted Washington’s blandishments in this regard. The US military is concerned that if security collapses in Basra, it could cause the center-north to unravel, as well (this calculation is correct).
Michael Schwartz shows how Bush crippled Baghdad.
(... go there for the additional links ...)
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2008-03-25-iraq-tuesday_N.htm--------
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1725296,00.htmlMaliki's Moment of Truth in Basra
Tuesday, Mar. 25, 2008
By BOBBY GHOSH/BAGHDAD
Iraqi police in the southern city of Basra.
ESSAM AL-SUDANI / AFP / Getty Image
The massive operation by the Iraqi army in Basra could be a defining battle against Shi'ite militias. Reports from the southern city — the hub of Iraq's oil industry and gateway to its main ports — say fierce fighting has broken out between government forces and militias. Eyewitnesses have told TIME of several smoke plumes rising out of the city's northern districts, and the sound of explosions and gunfire. Iraqi TV channels have shown images of helicopters flying over the city, and troops sweeping through some streets. At least 22 people were killed, and 58 wounded, in the fighting.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki arrived in Basra on Monday, accompanied by his ministers for defense and the interior, to personally supervise the operation. For Maliki, this is a crucial show of force. For much of the past three years, the Iraqi government has had little influence over Basra. As British troops have steadily withdrawn from the city, it has fallen into the control of three major Shi'ite militias — Moqtada al'Sadr's Mahdi Army, the Iran-backed Badr Brigades and a local group associated with the Fadila Party. The three have recently fought turf battles over large swathes of the city, claiming hundreds of lives.
Although there are over 4,000 British troops at a base outside Basra, they have done little to curb the violence. "We have a capacity to provide air and other specialist support if needed, but at this time British involvement is minimal," a British Ministry of Defense spokesman said, declining to be identified in accordance with department policy. Many Iraqis blame Basra's descent into chaos on flawed British strategy. They contend that in their haste to draw down forces, the British did little to train and bolster the local police force. Instead, many militia fighters were recruited into the police, making the force a part of Basra's problems rather than a solution.
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