Posted on 05/14/2004 7:28:39 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
NAJAF, Iraq (AP) -
Backed by helicopters, American tanks charged into the center of this holy city Friday and shelled positions held by fighters loyal to a radical cleric, who condemned the United States and Britain in a sermon. The Shrine of Imam Ali, one of the most sacred sites for Shiite Muslims, was slightly damaged in the fighting.
Four Iraqis died and 22 were wounded, said Hussein Hadi Karim, administrator at Najaf General Hospital, adding most were civilians. Fearing arrest by American troops, members of the militia loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr often avoid taking their casualties to hospitals.
The United States released more than 300 Iraqi detainees from Abu Ghraib prison Friday, a day after Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made a surprise visit and insisted the Pentagon did not try to cover up U.S. military abuse of detainees that has sparked international outrage.
In the southern city of Nasiriyah, militiamen pushed their way into the governor's office, moving through the streets near a hotel, a main bridge over the Euphrates River and police stations, the U.S.-led coalition said.
Explosions and heavy machine gun fire rocked Najaf neighborhoods for hours, and bands of militiamen with assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar tubes roamed the city of dun-colored buildings. Smoke billowed from blasted buildings.
Four holes, each about 12 inches long and 8 inches wide were visible on the golden dome of the Imam Ali mosque. They appeared to have been caused by machine gun fire, but it was unclear which side did it.
During their crackdown on al-Sadr's militia, U.S. forces have been careful to avoid damaging shrines in Najaf and elsewhere for fear of enraging Iraq's Shiite majority.
Al-Sadr's office near the Imam Ali shrine took small arms fire, according to a man who answered the telephone there. The man said he believed the shots came from rival Shiite groups opposed to al-Sadr's presence in the city.
Nearly 300 fighters from al-Sadr's militia, al-Mahdi Army, gathered outside his office after fighting ebbed in late afternoon, chanting slogans supporting him.
The hands of many were blackened, apparently a sign that they had taken part in the fighting. Some celebrated from the back of pickup trucks, and carried what they said were parts of U.S. military hardware, including what resembled the door of a Humvee and empty ammunition belts.
"Our morale is sky-high and we are not scared of anyone," said a militiaman who only gave his first name, Mahdi. "We will die for sayed Muqtada," he said, using the title "sayed" that is reserved for descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.
Residents said al-Mahdi gunmen blocked all roads close to the Imam Ali shrine, barring entry to all except those with special militia badges.
Civilians scurried for cover in the fighting, and some families fled their homes.
Arab TV stations reported that an aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, had urged U.S. forces and al-Sadr fighters to leave Najaf. The aide was identified as Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Mahdi.
The U.S. attack represented its strongest push yet against al-Sadr, whose forces fought intense battles with American forces this week in another holy city, Karbala. The intensifying battles have eclipsed efforts by Iraqi political and tribal leaders to seek a peaceful solution to the confrontation ahead of a planned transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30.
Much of the fighting in Najaf happened in the city's vast cemetery, a maze of footpaths and tombs that offers ample hiding space for militiamen. Several tanks rumbled into the cemetery, known as the "Valley of Peace" and thought to be the world's largest.
A central hotel where many international journalists were staying was hit by gunfire, which ruptured the rooftop water tank and blew a soccer-ball-sized hole on the ledge. Several rounds struck rooms but there were no injuries.
During the fighting, American troops moved along main roads in the city near the Imam Ali shrine. U.S. helicopters and a jet fighter flew over the city.
In Baghdad, al-Sadr's aides urged Shiites there to travel to Najaf to reinforce the militia. In the southern city of Amarah, an al-Sadr representative, Farqad al-Mousawi, warned Iraqi police and civil defense corps members that they risked assassination if they helped U.S. soldiers fight the al-Mahdi militia.
Al-Sadr's representative in the southern city of Basra, Sheik Abdul-Sattar al-Bahadli, said he would form suicide squads against coalition forces and urged residents to register for such duty, starting Saturday.
The cleric's representative in Nasiriyah, Sheik Aws al-Khafaji, threatened attacks on coalition forces, most of whom are Italians, in the city 190 miles southeast of Baghdad.
The American incursion in Najaf was its deepest yet, and U.S. soldiers also appeared to have cut off the main road between the city and nearby Kufa, where al-Sadr routinely delivers a Friday sermon.
In his sermon, al-Sadr described President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair as "the heads of tyranny."
He said the two leaders had paid too much attention to Nicholas Berg, an American civilian who was beheaded by militants, and had ignored the suffering of Iraqis in prisons controlled by coalition troops.
The cleric also condemned Iraqis who cooperate with the Americans and "are willing to execute the occupiers' orders," and called for an end to sectarian tensions among Iraqis.
Al-Sadr faces an arrest warrant in the murder of a moderate rival cleric last year and launched an uprising against the U.S.-led coalition last month.
The young cleric lacks the spiritual stature of al-Sistani, and his confrontational tactics have exasperated moderate Shiites who want an end to the fighting. Still, al-Sadr has the support of thousands of mainly poor, urban Shiites and he has capitalized on hostility toward the coalition that escalated after revelations of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers.
The coalition periodically releases prisoners from Abu Ghraib, the notorious Saddam Hussein-era jail on the western outskirts of Baghdad where the international scandal over abuses of prisoners by American soldiers has damaged the credibility of the coalition. There are more than 3,000 prisoners at the jail.
Images of abuse were taken by American military guards at the prison. Courts-martial have been ordered for three military police guards.
Residents reported explosions and gunfire in Karbala as U.S. soldiers again clashed with al-Sadr's militiamen. Shops closed and residents stayed off the streets.
A U.S. Marine died of non-hostile causes Thursday, and the death was under investigation, the U.S. command said. The Marines operate in Anbar province, a region west of Baghdad that includes Fallujah and other former strongholds of Saddam where insurgents are active.
Some help for the US Troops.
He said the two leaders had paid too much attention to Nicholas Berg, an American civilian who was beheaded by militants, and had ignored the suffering of Iraqis in prisons controlled by coalition troops.
What does it say when, in the absence of attribution, it is impossible to tell whether a quote was said by a Democrat, a Eurosocialist or a jihadi?
The ammo belts were empty because the cartridges were fired at these a$$holes.
marker
Ummmm...OK.
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