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Clashes spread across Iraq

Al-Maliki issues ultimatum to militants

Iraqi men greet U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Brian Flading as he patrols in Mosul, Iraq, on Wednesday. Associated Press (Associated Press ) Related news Saddam funded lawmakers’ trip » WASHINGTON – Saddam Hussein’s intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers, including one from Western Washington, during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. » The three anti-war Democrats made the trip in October 2002, while the Bush administration was trying to persuade Congress to authorize military action against Iraq. While traveling, they called for a diplomatic solution. » Prosecutors say that trip was arranged by Muthanna Al-Hanooti, a Michigan charity official, who was charged Wednesday with setting up the junket at the behest of Saddam’s regime. Iraqi intelligence officials allegedly paid for the trip through an intermediary and rewarded Al-Hanooti with 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil. » The lawmakers are not named in the indictment, but the dates correspond to a trip by Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott, of Washington, David Bonior, of Michigan, and Mike Thompson, of California. None was charged, and Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said investigators “have no information whatsoever” any of them knew the trip was underwritten by Saddam.

Leila Fadel
McClatchy
March 27, 2008

BAGHDAD – With the United States providing air cover and embedded advisers, the Iraqi government on Wednesday expanded its offensive against Shiite Muslim militias from the port city of Basra to the capital of Baghdad – and many of the provinces in between.

The day saw street battles in Baghdad and Basra, mortar attacks by Shiite rebels against Baghdad’s Green Zone, bombing by U.S. aircraft and encounters that left government tanks in flames. More than 97 people were reported killed and hundreds were wounded since the operation began early Tuesday. Two U.S. soldiers were killed by hostile fire in separate attacks Wednesday in Baghdad, the military said.

In Baghdad, at least nine Iraqi civilians were killed and 42 were wounded in mortar attacks, police said. The Mahdi Army, loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, opened fire on civilians in downtown Baghdad and clashed with Iraqi security forces in Kadhemiya in north Baghdad.

In Baghdad’s Shiite Sadr City neighborhood, clashes between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi security forces supported by U.S. forces left at least 20 dead and 115 injured. By early afternoon, people took to the streets in protest of the Iraqi government.

Mortar rounds crashed into the heavily fortified Green Zone for the third straight day, injuring three U.S. government employees, all U.S. citizens, said U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo.

Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who’s directing the operation from Basra, gave the armed groups 72 hours to give up their weapons and surrender without consequences, warning that they’d be treated as outlaws if they didn’t.

But al-Sadr demanded that al-Maliki leave Basra and send a parliamentary delegation to hold a dialogue. Al-Maliki immediately rebuffed the demand.

Al-Maliki appears to be taking a huge risk in confronting the volatile city, which is dominated by the Mahdi Army.

There were growing signs that al-Sadr’s cease-fire, which he declared in August and renewed in February, was unraveling. The cease-fire is one of the principal reasons for the downturn in violence and U.S. troop deaths this year.

“I hope they will stay with the freeze, but I’m not sure currently if the Jaysh al Mahdi (Mahdi Army) is still freezing its activities,” said Sadiq al-Rikabi, al-Maliki’s adviser.