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Al-Sadr's Followers Claim Agreement Broken
 Followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accused the army of violating an Iranian-brokered agreement that ended last week's fighting, which erupted in Basra and quickly engulfed Baghdad and major cities of the Shiite south.Those complaints raised concern that fighting could flare again as the Iraqi government and Shiite militias maneuver for control of Basra -- the country's oil capital 340 miles southeast of Baghdad and a major commercial center of 2 million people. In the north, meanwhile, a suicide bomber in a vehicle attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint west of Mosul late Wednesday, killing seven people and wounding 12, according to the Iraqi army. Violence in the Shiite south and in the north, where al-Qaeda operates, illustrates the fragile state of security in Iraq as the U.S. moves to reduce its troop levels after five years of war. Iraqi troops met no significant resistance as a dozen-vehicle convoy drove Wednesday into the Hayaniyah district of central Basra, scene of fierce clashes last week with al-Sadr's Mahdi Army fighters. Troops set up checkpoints and searched a few houses before leaving the neighborhood after a couple of hours, witnesses said. An Iraqi cameraman working for the U.S.-funded Alhurra satellite television station was shot in the leg as he filmed the operation in Hayaniyah. Later, the camera operator, Mazin al-Tayar, told Alhurra by telephone that the soldiers faced "many roadside bombs and mortar rounds" during the operation, although there were no reports of military casualties. One of the bombs exploded near a vehicle carrying the local Iraqi army commander, Lt. Gen. Mohan al-Fireji, but caused no injuries, according to Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari, who was traveling with the general. The Basra joint operations center announced that Iraqi soldiers had detained two suspected militia figures in the Qibla area. A gunbattle erupted during the raid and an Iraqi army vehicle was set on fire. Nevertheless, Basra's provincial governor, Mohammed al-Waili, said the overall situation in the oil-rich city was "very calm and stable" and that normalcy was returning. "We issued orders to all government employees to go to their offices starting from today and they will be obliged to work their full schedule," he said. Posted by: Fred 2008-04-04 |
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