Posted on 04/09/2004 9:58:46 PM PDT by yonif
IRAQ'S Governing Council demanded an immediate ceasefire across the country and a halt to "collective punishment" today in a sign of a split between US-picked Iraqi leaders and American administrators over US military operations.
Abdel Karim Mahud al-Mahamadawi, a secular Shi'ite member of Iraq's interim Governing Council, met with radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia is battling US-led forces in the south.
He said he was suspending his membership in the Iraqi Governing Council until the "bleeding in all Iraq" ends.
Another member, Ghazi al-Yawer, threatened to quit the council over the Marines' bloody siege of the city of Fallujah, aimed at uprooting Sunni insurgents.
US forces have been fighting a two-front battle this week - against Sunni militants in Fallujah and al-Sadr's militia in the south - that has killed more than 460 Iraqis and 45 Americans.
Yesterday's halt in the Fallujah assault was requested by the council to allow for talks on reducing the violence, US coalition spokesman Dan Senor said.
But a top commander, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt insisted the talks "are not negotiations".
Al-Yawer, a Sunni council member, and the representative of another Sunni member met overnight with city leaders in talks at a Marine base outside Fallujah, council member Mahmoud Othman said.
Al-Yawer said that while he has not taken any formal steps, " will quit (the council) if the problem is not solved peacefully, because God will not bless a position of power that does not benefit its people".
"If negotiations fail because of the stubbornness of the American side or the failure to adhere to a cease-fire, I will quit 100 per cent," he told Al-Jazeera TV.
The council request for negotiations pointed to the eagerness of the Iraqi leaders to distance themselves from the assault, which has angered many Iraqis and become for some a symbol of resistance against the Americans.
In a statement issued in the early today, the council demanded "an immediate cease fire" and political solutions for the "situations around the country, particularly in Fallujah".
It also called for an end to the "military solution" and "collective punishment that falls on innocent civilians" - a reference to the Fallujah siege.
It denounced terrorism and noted that "no one is above the law" - a reference to activities by both Sunni and Shiite insurgents.
Shiite council member Abdul-Karim Mahoud al-Mohammedawi met overnight with al-Sadr, whom US commanders have vowed to capture.
"I will not go back to the council until we enter a constructive discussion about Iraq ... to achieve what the Iraqi people really want and to stop the bleeding in all Iraq," he told reporters outside al-Sadr's office in Najaf after the meeting.
"I call on everybody to use the voice of wisdom and avoid violence," he said.
One of the strongest pro-US voices on the council, Adnan Pachachi, denounced the US siege, launched after Sunni insurgents killed four US contract workers and a mob dragged their burned and mutilated bodies through the streets and hung two of them from a bridge.
"These (US) operations were a mass punishment for the people of Fallujah," Pachachi told Al-Arabiya TV.
"It was not right to punish all the people of Fallujah and we consider these operations by the Americans unacceptable and illegal."
Added al-Yawer: "We all agree that those who did that (killed the four Americans) were criminals who deserve to be arrested. But the result was the mass punishment of a city. ... And that we refuse."
Asked about the council members' criticism, Senor said US forces have "a responsibility to address a situation that is hostile".
He said the coalition cannot "just turn our heads and look the other way" when Americans are killed in Fallujah.
The punishment ain't over either.
If they want to have any political future in Iraq after the US leaves, they have to criticise our move. Their criticism will have very little effect on what the US actually does.
How do they reckon to have a ceasefire with Sadr and his army?
Of course it will be after operations in Ramadi and Fallujah are completed and Sadr facing justice.
“Any man who is that eloquent deserves to be relieved. We shall go right away!”
This is so bogus. It is like some bully trying to kick your a$$ everyday for months and when you hit back they run to their mama crying. Well let them get a little American medicine and see if they want to keep asking for more because I'll bet we can oblige them.
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