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| Iraq |
| Baghdad curfew extended indefinitely |
| 2008-03-30 |
| Iraqi authorities on Saturday extended a curfew in Baghdad indefinitely in an attempt to contain clashes between Shi'ite militants and Iraqi security forces that have threatened to spiral out of control. But in an indication that the violence was set to continue, Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers not to lay down their weapons, defying a five-day-old crackdown by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has ordered them to disarm. The latest violence has spread from the southern city of Basra through towns in Iraq's southern Shi'ite heartland and neighbourhoods of Baghdad. "Moqtada al-Sadr asks his followers not to deliver weapons to the government. Weapons should be turned over only to a government which can expel the (U.S.) occupiers," Sadr aide Hassan Zargani told Reuters by telephone. |
| Posted by:Fred |