Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
May 14, 2008
Pg. 5
U.S. military blames groups that have broken with al-Sadr
By Chris Tomlinson, Associated Press
BAGHDAD — A shaky cease-fire started Tuesday in Baghdad's Sadr City. A cleric who brokered the deal for Shiite fighters said they would honor it even after clashes left at least 11 dead and 19 wounded.
The pact was intended to stop seven weeks of fighting between U.S.-supported Iraqi troops and Shiite extremists who have fired more than 1,000 mortar shells and rockets into the Green Zone, home to the government and Western embassies. The cease-fire did not start well as clashes broke out late Monday and early Tuesday.
Iraqi medics reported 11 killed and 19 wounded. There were women and children among the wounded, hospital officials told the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the news media. The U.S. military confirmed the deaths of six militants.
In unrelated violence, a roadside bombing killed five Iraqi soldiers Tuesday in Mosul, police said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. Iraqi troops and U.S. soldiers have attacked Sunni extremists there.
A U.S. soldier was killed just before dark Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded next to his vehicle in northwest Baghdad.
The Sadr City fighting and cease-fire have brought into question the authority of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who lives in Iran.
Al-Sadr signed a cease-fire agreement in August, but Shiite militiamen have ignored those orders.
Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a military spokesman for American troops in Baghdad, said Tuesday that the fighting was caused by "special groups," Shiite factions that have broken with al-Sadr.
The United States has accused Iranian forces of training and arming the groups. Iran denies the allegations.
Clerics who support al-Sadr negotiated the new cease-fire, and one said Tuesday that it was taking hold and would be enforced.
"We signed an agreement, and we are loyal to the agreement we reached," said Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, an aide to al-Sadr. "There might be some violations from both sides, and we have to try to prevent them."
The deal allows Iraqi forces to take over security today in sprawling Sadr City, the stronghold of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
Under the compromise, Iraqi forces will try to refrain from seeking American help to restore order.
The Sadrists rejected calls by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to surrender weapons, saying Mahdi fighters have no medium or heavy weapons.
Stover blamed the "special groups" for a failed surface-to-air missile attack on a helicopter gunship over Sadr City on Saturday.
The missile was fired from an unknown location in eastern Baghdad but missed the target, he said.
The missile harmlessly exploded, and the rocket body landed in the Azamiyah neighborhood, where it was recovered by allied Sunni fighters and handed over to the U.S. military.
Stover declined to release any details on the missile type.
May 14, 2008
Pg. 5
U.S. military blames groups that have broken with al-Sadr
By Chris Tomlinson, Associated Press
BAGHDAD — A shaky cease-fire started Tuesday in Baghdad's Sadr City. A cleric who brokered the deal for Shiite fighters said they would honor it even after clashes left at least 11 dead and 19 wounded.
The pact was intended to stop seven weeks of fighting between U.S.-supported Iraqi troops and Shiite extremists who have fired more than 1,000 mortar shells and rockets into the Green Zone, home to the government and Western embassies. The cease-fire did not start well as clashes broke out late Monday and early Tuesday.
Iraqi medics reported 11 killed and 19 wounded. There were women and children among the wounded, hospital officials told the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the news media. The U.S. military confirmed the deaths of six militants.
In unrelated violence, a roadside bombing killed five Iraqi soldiers Tuesday in Mosul, police said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. Iraqi troops and U.S. soldiers have attacked Sunni extremists there.
A U.S. soldier was killed just before dark Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded next to his vehicle in northwest Baghdad.
The Sadr City fighting and cease-fire have brought into question the authority of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who lives in Iran.
Al-Sadr signed a cease-fire agreement in August, but Shiite militiamen have ignored those orders.
Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a military spokesman for American troops in Baghdad, said Tuesday that the fighting was caused by "special groups," Shiite factions that have broken with al-Sadr.
The United States has accused Iranian forces of training and arming the groups. Iran denies the allegations.
Clerics who support al-Sadr negotiated the new cease-fire, and one said Tuesday that it was taking hold and would be enforced.
"We signed an agreement, and we are loyal to the agreement we reached," said Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, an aide to al-Sadr. "There might be some violations from both sides, and we have to try to prevent them."
The deal allows Iraqi forces to take over security today in sprawling Sadr City, the stronghold of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
Under the compromise, Iraqi forces will try to refrain from seeking American help to restore order.
The Sadrists rejected calls by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to surrender weapons, saying Mahdi fighters have no medium or heavy weapons.
Stover blamed the "special groups" for a failed surface-to-air missile attack on a helicopter gunship over Sadr City on Saturday.
The missile was fired from an unknown location in eastern Baghdad but missed the target, he said.
The missile harmlessly exploded, and the rocket body landed in the Azamiyah neighborhood, where it was recovered by allied Sunni fighters and handed over to the U.S. military.
Stover declined to release any details on the missile type.