Posted on 09/02/2007 10:49:29 PM PDT by OneHun
Monday, September 03, 2007
Maliki orders investigation into Kerbala bloodletting
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Hard-line Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Sunday warned the Baghdad government of retaliation if it delays a probe into a gun battle in Kerbala last week in which 52 people died.
Shortly afterward, the government announced an inquiry into last Tuesday's clashes, while Kerbala police said that they had arrested some 269 people for alleged involvement in the fighting, which turned a major Shiite pilgrimage into a bloodbath in the southern shrine city.
Sadr's warning came just days after he ordered a freeze on the activities of his Mehdi Army militia after it was accused of fomenting the bloodletting.
"After the procrastination we have seen over the past two days, we warn the Iraqi government and authorities in Kerbala if they don't conduct a fair, neutral and fast investigation, the Sadr office will be left with no choice but to take unspecified measures," Sadr's spokesman in the city of Najaf, Sheikh Saleh al-Obeidi, told reporters in Kerbala.
The battle near the shrine of Imam Abbas shook Iraq's Shiite community and forced Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who initially blamed Sunni insurgents, to order the investigation.
He ordered that a committee be set up to investigate the "tragic incident in Kerbala," a statement from his office said.
"The committee should carry out its mission professionally and without any bias towarda any sect," the statement said. "The investigation should end as fast as possible."
Maliki on Sunday also responded to critics in the US Congress, saying his government had kept Iraq from sliding into sectarian civil war.
At a news conference, Maliki said his critics had crossed what he called a "reasonable line" and were encouraging those trying to destabilize Iraq.
Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton and some other US lawmakers have called for the Iraqi Parliament to replace Maliki.
"They do not realize the size of the disaster that Iraq has passed through and the big role of this government, a government of national unity. The most important achievement is it stopped a sectarian and civil war," Maliki said.
His comments came just over a week before US President George W. Bush's top officials in Iraq present pivotal testimony on the country's security and political situation.
Kerbala's police chief, Brigadier General Raed Shaker, said 269 people had been detained in the past two days and the round-up of those involved in the fighting was continuing.
"We are still conducting search operations in the city and its outskirts," he said.
Sadr's spokesman said those arrested were members of the Sadr movement.
"The security forces have arrested a large number of Sadrists ... more than 200 in the past three days, and also killed around 150 randomly during raids," Obeidi said.
"We have this information from official records in hospitals. There is injustice against the Sadrists at a time when we want to promote unity," he added.
The figure of 150 dead was not confirmed by any independent source.
The US command hailed the order by Sadr on Saturday to rein in his fighters, saying the move could free up American forces to step up the fight against Al-Qaeda and help heal sectarian wounds.
"If implemented, Sadr's order holds the prospect of allowing coalition and Iraqi security forces to intensify their focus on Al-Qaeda in Iraq and on protecting the Iraqi population," the US command said in a statement Saturday.
Meanwhile, Iraqi medical and security officials said a car bomb killed four people in northwest Baghdad's mostly Shiite Kadhimiyya neighborhood.
Eight others were wounded in the blast at the main intersection of the area, they said.
Ten members of an Iraqi doomsday cult were sentenced to death on Sunday and 394 jailed for their roles in a January rebellion against Iraqi and US troops that left hundreds dead, police said.
"The criminal court passed judgment on 458 accused," Najaf police chief Brigadier General Abdel-Karim Mustapha said.
"It sentenced 10 leaders of the 'Soldiers of Heaven' to death and decided to release 54 of them," he said. "The rest were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 15 years to life."
The fighting left 263 sect followers dead, including their messianic leader Dhia Abdel- Zahra Kadhim al-Krimawi, also known as Abu Kamar, who believed he was descended from the Prophet Mohammad.
The well-organized Shiite cult had plans to kill senior clerics and seize control of shrines in the city of Najaf at that time, Najaf officials had said after the January fight.
The US military on Sunday said its troops killed eight suspected militants, arrested four and freed nine Iraqis awaiting trial at a kangaroo court run by Al-Qaeda just north of Baghdad.
The nine were freed when American forces raided a building in the town of Tarmiyya that was allegedly being used by Al-Qaeda to hold "illegal terrorist court proceedings," the US military statement said.
Arab League chief Amr Moussa on Sunday called for talks between Arab countries and Iran over Iraq, dismissing suggestions that Tehran would fill a power vacuum in Iraq in case of US troop withdrawal.
"There should be a consensus between the Arabs and Iran over Iraq," Moussa told reporters after a meeting of Arab diplomats. "Iran and the Arabs should be on one side."
Last week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned a power vacuum is imminent in Iraq and said Iran was ready to help fill the gap. - Agencies
Copyright (c) 2007 The Daily Star
I expect more of this leading up to Gen. Petraeus’s report.
They want to stir up Tet Offensive degree trouble. I don’t think the can.
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