Iraqi government spokesman abducted amid Baghdad violence

Los Angeles Times ^ | March 27, 2008 9:26 AM PDT, | Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Haider Al-Assadee / EPA Fighters loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr in Basra<

The bold mid-afternoon kidnapping of Tahseen Sheikhly is a sign of the unrest spreading since Iraqi security forces started clamping down on Shiite militiamen in Basra.

BAGHDAD -- Rockets and mortars rained down on Baghdad today, and a high-ranking Iraqi government spokesman was abducted from his home, as violence continued in the wake of a crackdown on Shiite Muslim militiamen.

Scores of people have died since the fighting erupted early Tuesday, including at least 51 in the southern oil port city of Basra, where the Iraqi offensive began. At least 15 people, most of them civilians, were reported killed in attacks today in Baghdad and nearby Babil province to the south. Skirmishes also continued in Basra, where a pipeline carrying oil to the city's port was hit by a major blast that sent flames soaring into the sky.

n Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood, thousands of supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr marched through the streets demanding the ouster of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and accusing him of targeting Sadr loyalists in the Basra offensive. Maliki, meanwhile, rejected negotiations with what he called "criminal gangs" to end the violence.

"Their only choice is to hand over their weapons and sign pledges that they will henceforth abide by the law and return to the right path," said Maliki, who Wednesday gave militiamen 72 hours to put down their weapons.

Police said gunmen attacked the east Baghdad home of Tahseen Sheikhly, a spokesman for the Baghdad security plan launched in February 2007 to stabilize the capital.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

According to officials in the Interior Ministry, which oversees police, the attackers shot and wounded at least one of Sheikhly's guards and ransacked his home before fleeing with the spokesman.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

More detail....don’t think I have seen this reported.

[NormsRevenge]

news to me.. Thx!

BumP

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From the paper this morning:

Iraq leader gives Shiite militias in Basra three days to surrender

***************************EXCERPT************************

Karim Kadim / Associated Press
Tires burn on a street in Sadr City, a huge neighborhood in east Baghdad that is a bastion of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and its supporters.

Toll reaches 80 as gunmen resist an Iraq government crackdown in the southern city of Basra. Cleric Muqtada Sadr is said to urge followers to abide by truce.

By Alexandra Zavis and Peter Spiegel, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
March 27, 2008

BAGHDAD -- Prime Minister Nouri Maliki gave Shiite Muslim militiamen in Basra three days to surrender as fighting raged Wednesday in the southern Shiite heartland and parts of Baghdad, leaving more than 80 people dead in two days.

Basra residents trapped in their homes by raging gun battles worried that food was running out with no end in sight to the clashes between Iraqi security forces and followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr and other armed factions.

Photo Gallery

Fighting rages in Basra

Photo Gallery

Iraq today: March 27

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In Baghdad, volleys of rocket and mortar fire shook areas Wednesday, including the fortified Green Zone, site of the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government offices. One U.S. soldier, two American civilians and an Iraqi soldier were wounded in the attacks, the military said.

Two U.S. soldiers were killed in separate attacks Wednesday in Baghdad, the military said. The deaths brought to at least 4,002 the number of American military personnel who have died since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, according to the website icasulties.org.

Fighting erupted in Basra on Tuesday when Iraqi government security forces announced the launch of a crackdown against armed factions and criminal gangs that have been vying for control of the city, Iraq's second-largest, and its lucrative oil industry. More than 30 people were killed and 100 injured there, health officials said.

The level of resistance to the crackdown represented a major challenge to Maliki's authority and deepened fears that a cease-fire declared last year by Sadr may be in danger of collapse. The truce by his Mahdi Army militia has played a key part in the significant decline in violence since a U.S. troop buildup reached its peak in June.

Sadr's followers have complained for months that American and Iraqi security forces, many of them with ties to rival Shiite factions in the government, are taking advantage of the truce to arrest Mahdi Army fighters and weaken his movement before the provincial elections scheduled for Oct. 1. Sadr's representatives called Tuesday for nationwide protests in response t

[Allegra]

I heard about this earlier today and I pray for Sheikhly's safe release. I didn't know if this was out in the media, so I didn't say anything.

Baghdad, for the first time today, is calm. It is a little after 1:00 a.m. and I'm off to sleep.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

[Ben Hecks]

This is Tet for Al Qaeda...a last desperate act. We need to crush Mookie and hunt down the rest of his so called “army”.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Prayers for your safety and a restful sleep.

[G8 Diplomat]

Sooner or later, when we and the Iraqis are through with him, Sadr will become....sadder.

I know, I’m bad....

[G8 Diplomat]

"Sula al-Sadriin al-sharfa', [something whose letters I can't make out] al-Imam al-Mahdi."

"The exalted Sadrists will overpower _______ of the Mahdi Imam" ? Something like that....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

You can read that script,...that is a good skill to have.,

Concerned with this news:

Areas of Baghdad fall to militias as Iraqi Army falters in Basra

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

see post #5....and #10.

[Marine_Uncle]

The Iraqi government can't back out of this one. Maliki makes it clear there will be no negotiations. Good for him. Time to shake and bake. He has to make more publicity statements as to how the federal government takes it's duties seriously to bring down all elements of crime as well as any waring factions.
In short. He must start playing the role of statesman. And it sure wouldn't hurt if his admin. starting to really weed out all those in his government that are screwing around, and milking the system.
We should always keep in mind. Maliki's government came to power in December of 2005. He was in essence elected for a four year term. His time is limited at this point. They have screwed around so much in ineptitude that few take them to be serious. He has the chance to actually prepare his country for the next leadership to take the reigns and start really rebuilding the country, for the betterment of all Iraqi as well as the future oil export potential they possess.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

See link at #10....

[shhimundercover]

This is not Al Queda, this is our buddies the Shia.

QUOTE
Iraq’s Basra police chief survives bomb attack

QUOTE
U.S. Air Strike Kills Five Would-Be Roadside Bombers in Basra, Iraq

[Marine_Uncle]

I read your other link E. "In Baghdad, the Mahdi Army took over neighborhood after neighborhood, some amid heavy fighting, others without firing a shot."
We need some confirmation on these things. I sense the L/MSM going a bit bonsai as usual at the slightest news of someone firing a gun or a bomb going off.
The article cries with anguish over how things have soured over the past day. Let us wait for a number of solid evals say by Bill Roggio at TLWJ. Then make an evaluation on where things are heading.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

That is why I restrained myself from starting a thread,...not quite believing it was an accurate portrayal.

[forkinsocket]

Sadr means chest & it’s also used to mean breasts.

An Iraqi friend told me a joke once: Shi’a are in an airplane screaming out, “We love al-Sadr! We love al-Sadr!” The captain tells the hostess to show them her sadr to shut them up...& I won’t go on. :S

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Ernest and all.

spin alert — “a sign of the unrest spreading since Iraqi security forces started clamping down”

24 terrorists killed in Baghdad
Multi-National Corps, Camp Victory | March 27, 2008 | Baghdad/Iraq Public Affairs Office
Posted on 03/27/2008 3:17:40 PM EDT by mdittmar
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992656/posts

Iraq Puts Baghdad Under Weekend Curfew
MyWay | Mar 27, 3:27 PM (ET) | AP
Posted on 03/27/2008 11:23:00 PM EDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992908/posts