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Iraq to halt raids on Shiite Muslim gangs
Prime Minister Nouri Maliki today declared a halt to raids on armed Shiite Muslim gangs in Baghdad and southern Iraq, just a day after he announced his intentions to carry out operations in districts of the capital that are under de facto control of Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.The new statement, released by Maliki's office, left unanswered whether the prime minister was retreating or taking a break from his pledge to take on lawless elements often associated by U.S. and Iraqi officials with Sadr's militia. The announcement called for security forces to arrest anyone carrying a weapon on the streets. Maliki's security forces battled last week with the Mahdi Army in the southern port of Basra, in an operation the prime minister said was meant to impose law and order on Iraq's second-largest city. The Sadr movement described the campaign as an effort by its political enemies to crush his grassroots movement ahead of provincial elections in October. The fighting spread quickly to Baghdad before Sadr called on his followers to put down their arms Sunday. At least 1,000 Iraqi soldiers deserted during the clashes, a senior U.S. military official said today, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. More than half the police force in Baghdad's Sadr City and parts of Basra also abandoned their posts, a Western security official told The Times earlier in the week. Posted by: Fred 2008-04-05 |
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