Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: The Associated Press
Byline: By HAMZA HENDAWI
Date: 23 October 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq_Shiite militiamen loyal to a fiery anti-American Shiite cleric
re-emerged in the troubled southern city of Amarah on Monday, dragging four
policemen aligned with a rival Shiite militia from their homes and killing
them.
Witnesses said the Iraqi army, camped on the edge of the city, was doing
nothing to stop the resurgence of Shiite-on-Shiite violence. Iraq's leaders
sent a force of about 500 soldiers to the city late last week after Muqtada
al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militiamen stormed the city and attacked police
stations, manned primarily by loyalists of the rival Badr Brigades, also a
Shiite militia.
At least 25 fighters and police died in those gunbattles before politicians
intervened and won a promise from the Mahdi Army gunmen to leave the
streets. In the meantime, virtually all of the Amarah police force went into
hiding.
The Iraqi prime minister, meanwhile, warned the country against lawlessness
and said his military would take unspecified action to stop the mounting
bloodshed.
"Let everyone be informed that orders have been issued to the armed forces
to stop any transgression against state power and to confront any illegal
attempt regardless of its source," Nouri al-Maliki said in a statement.
"The Iraqi government also calls in particular on the people of Maysan
province (home to Amarah) to exercise caution and care in the face of
attempts to drag the people of this unified nation into fighting and
strife," the Shiite prime minister said.
Al-Maliki has faced growing pressure from allies in Washington and London to
rein in Shiite militias and other violent factions, and his Monday statement
appeared to be a reaction.
The White House said Monday that the fledgling Iraqi government must step up
and take more responsibility for the country's security.
But President Bush's spokesman, Tony Snow, discounted a newspaper report
saying the head of the U.S.-led Multinational Forces in Iraq and the U.S.
ambassador were working on a plan that _ for the first time _ would set a
specific timetable for disarming militias and meeting other political and
economic goals.
"There is still a very large to-do list before Iraq is in a position to
sustain, government and defend itself," Snow said.
"Are we issuing ultimatums? No," he added.
But with the army apparently on the sidelines and unwilling to stop the
bloodshed in Amarah, 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, it was unclear what
effect the statement would have there or elsewhere in the country.
In Amarah, gunmen dragged police Lt. Sarmad Majid al-Shatti from his home
before dawn, then dumped his bullet-riddled body at a farm on the city's
outskirts, said Ali Chaloub of Sadr General Hospital. Another policeman, Lt.
Alaa al-Kabi was shot to death outside his home, Chaloub said.
At about the same time, provincial policemen Hamid Majeed and Hassan
Abdullah were kidnapped from their homes, and their bodies were later found
dumped outside the city, Chaloub said.
Badr fighters took revenge, killing and beheading the teenage brother of the
local Mahdi Army commander. The Mahdi commander was killed Thursday, setting
in motion the Amarah violence.
With sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites also on the rise, Sunnis
in Baghdad largely ignored public celebrations of the Eid al-Fitr feast
marking the end of the Ramadan month of fasting. They said they feared new
attacks.
A car bomb in an eastern district of the capital killed at least three
people.
The U.S. military also reported that a Marine had died in fighting in the
restive western province of Anbar on Saturday, bringing the number of U.S.
troops killed in October to 86 _ the highest monthly toll since November
2004.
A member of the international force training Iraqi policemen was killed in a
roadside bombing in eastern Baghdad on Sunday, the military said.
The car bomb on Baghdad's Palestine street had targeted a police patrol, but
it's victims, including 13 injured, were merely pedestrians, police Lt.
Thair Mahmod said.
U.S. commanders and Iraqi officials have hoped for a reduction of violence
after Ramadan.
According to an Associated Press count, October is on track to be the
deadliest month for Iraqis since the AP began tracking deaths in April 2005.
Through Sunday, October 22, at least 941 Iraqis have been killed in
war-related violence, an average of 43 every day.
That compares to an average daily death toll of about 27 since April 2005.
The AP count includes civilians, government officials and police and
security forces, and is considered a minimum based on AP reporting. The
actual number is likely higher, as many killings go unreported.
Despite the worsening carnage, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said
on a visit to Britain that international forces must not abandon Iraq while
the situation there remains volatile.
"I do believe there is no option for the international community to cut and
run," Saleh told reporters after meeting British Prime Minister Tony Blair
in London. About 7,000 British troops are assigned to southern Iraq as part
of the U.S.-led coalition force in the country.
Saleh said Iraqi forces will be in control of seven or eight of Iraq's 18
provinces by the end of the year, adding: "We understand that this cannot be
an open-ended commitment by the international community."
The near absence of public displays of jubilation in Baghdad's Sunni areas
reflects the worsening security in the capital, whose 6 million residents
are about evenly divided between Shiites and Sunnis, making it the main
battlefield in the country's widening sectarian violence.
Iraq's majority Shiites will celebrate the three-day Eid al-Fitr Tuesday or
Wednesday, which means Monday to them could be the last day of the fast when
devout Muslims refrain from food, water, sex and smoking from dawn to dusk.
Despite an increased police and army presence on the streets, many Baghdad
Sunnis said they would rather stay home than risk falling victim to car
bombs or Shiite death squads.
"We are telephoning friends and relatives or sending text messages to wish
them a happy holiday," said Nadhim Aziz, a math teacher from the city's
mixed district of New Baghdad.
He said he found fewer worshippers than last year when he went to a local
mosque to perform the early morning prayers marking Eid al-Fitr.
"We were 50 to 60 in the mosque. Last year, there were about 400," Aziz
lamented.
Byline: By HAMZA HENDAWI
Date: 23 October 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq_Shiite militiamen loyal to a fiery anti-American Shiite cleric
re-emerged in the troubled southern city of Amarah on Monday, dragging four
policemen aligned with a rival Shiite militia from their homes and killing
them.
Witnesses said the Iraqi army, camped on the edge of the city, was doing
nothing to stop the resurgence of Shiite-on-Shiite violence. Iraq's leaders
sent a force of about 500 soldiers to the city late last week after Muqtada
al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militiamen stormed the city and attacked police
stations, manned primarily by loyalists of the rival Badr Brigades, also a
Shiite militia.
At least 25 fighters and police died in those gunbattles before politicians
intervened and won a promise from the Mahdi Army gunmen to leave the
streets. In the meantime, virtually all of the Amarah police force went into
hiding.
The Iraqi prime minister, meanwhile, warned the country against lawlessness
and said his military would take unspecified action to stop the mounting
bloodshed.
"Let everyone be informed that orders have been issued to the armed forces
to stop any transgression against state power and to confront any illegal
attempt regardless of its source," Nouri al-Maliki said in a statement.
"The Iraqi government also calls in particular on the people of Maysan
province (home to Amarah) to exercise caution and care in the face of
attempts to drag the people of this unified nation into fighting and
strife," the Shiite prime minister said.
Al-Maliki has faced growing pressure from allies in Washington and London to
rein in Shiite militias and other violent factions, and his Monday statement
appeared to be a reaction.
The White House said Monday that the fledgling Iraqi government must step up
and take more responsibility for the country's security.
But President Bush's spokesman, Tony Snow, discounted a newspaper report
saying the head of the U.S.-led Multinational Forces in Iraq and the U.S.
ambassador were working on a plan that _ for the first time _ would set a
specific timetable for disarming militias and meeting other political and
economic goals.
"There is still a very large to-do list before Iraq is in a position to
sustain, government and defend itself," Snow said.
"Are we issuing ultimatums? No," he added.
But with the army apparently on the sidelines and unwilling to stop the
bloodshed in Amarah, 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, it was unclear what
effect the statement would have there or elsewhere in the country.
In Amarah, gunmen dragged police Lt. Sarmad Majid al-Shatti from his home
before dawn, then dumped his bullet-riddled body at a farm on the city's
outskirts, said Ali Chaloub of Sadr General Hospital. Another policeman, Lt.
Alaa al-Kabi was shot to death outside his home, Chaloub said.
At about the same time, provincial policemen Hamid Majeed and Hassan
Abdullah were kidnapped from their homes, and their bodies were later found
dumped outside the city, Chaloub said.
Badr fighters took revenge, killing and beheading the teenage brother of the
local Mahdi Army commander. The Mahdi commander was killed Thursday, setting
in motion the Amarah violence.
With sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites also on the rise, Sunnis
in Baghdad largely ignored public celebrations of the Eid al-Fitr feast
marking the end of the Ramadan month of fasting. They said they feared new
attacks.
A car bomb in an eastern district of the capital killed at least three
people.
The U.S. military also reported that a Marine had died in fighting in the
restive western province of Anbar on Saturday, bringing the number of U.S.
troops killed in October to 86 _ the highest monthly toll since November
2004.
A member of the international force training Iraqi policemen was killed in a
roadside bombing in eastern Baghdad on Sunday, the military said.
The car bomb on Baghdad's Palestine street had targeted a police patrol, but
it's victims, including 13 injured, were merely pedestrians, police Lt.
Thair Mahmod said.
U.S. commanders and Iraqi officials have hoped for a reduction of violence
after Ramadan.
According to an Associated Press count, October is on track to be the
deadliest month for Iraqis since the AP began tracking deaths in April 2005.
Through Sunday, October 22, at least 941 Iraqis have been killed in
war-related violence, an average of 43 every day.
That compares to an average daily death toll of about 27 since April 2005.
The AP count includes civilians, government officials and police and
security forces, and is considered a minimum based on AP reporting. The
actual number is likely higher, as many killings go unreported.
Despite the worsening carnage, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said
on a visit to Britain that international forces must not abandon Iraq while
the situation there remains volatile.
"I do believe there is no option for the international community to cut and
run," Saleh told reporters after meeting British Prime Minister Tony Blair
in London. About 7,000 British troops are assigned to southern Iraq as part
of the U.S.-led coalition force in the country.
Saleh said Iraqi forces will be in control of seven or eight of Iraq's 18
provinces by the end of the year, adding: "We understand that this cannot be
an open-ended commitment by the international community."
The near absence of public displays of jubilation in Baghdad's Sunni areas
reflects the worsening security in the capital, whose 6 million residents
are about evenly divided between Shiites and Sunnis, making it the main
battlefield in the country's widening sectarian violence.
Iraq's majority Shiites will celebrate the three-day Eid al-Fitr Tuesday or
Wednesday, which means Monday to them could be the last day of the fast when
devout Muslims refrain from food, water, sex and smoking from dawn to dusk.
Despite an increased police and army presence on the streets, many Baghdad
Sunnis said they would rather stay home than risk falling victim to car
bombs or Shiite death squads.
"We are telephoning friends and relatives or sending text messages to wish
them a happy holiday," said Nadhim Aziz, a math teacher from the city's
mixed district of New Baghdad.
He said he found fewer worshippers than last year when he went to a local
mosque to perform the early morning prayers marking Eid al-Fitr.
"We were 50 to 60 in the mosque. Last year, there were about 400," Aziz
lamented.