Posted on 05/06/2004 5:29:07 PM PDT by blam
Americans intensify offensive as Shias denounce Sadr
By Toby Harnden in Baghdad
(Filed: 07/05/2004)
Iraq's Shia uprising was under assault on four fronts yesterday as American forces launched synchronised attacks on several strongholds, while moderate ayatollahs denounced the head of the Mahdi army, Moqtada al-Sadr.
The fiery cleric was battling to preserve his eroded power base in the holy cities of Najaf, Kufa, Karbala and Diwaniyah after a demand from Iraq's most prominent Shia leaders that he withdraw his troops and cease using the mosques there as "arsenals".
In heavy fighting around Najaf and nearby Kufa, coalition forces said they had killed 41 Mahdi militiamen. The operation appeared to be the beginning of an attempt to wrest the city back from Sadr.
American tanks from a 2,500-strong force that had been encamped outside Najaf rolled along the main street, still some miles from the holy sites that the coalition has promised to avoid entering.
"We have resecured the governor's building [in Najaf] and we intend to have the governor reoccupy it to have the coalition retake control of the city," said one American official.
Lt Col Pat White, a local commander, told CNN that the area was a "hornet's nest". He said his battalion had killed about 20 fighters after they moved out of a mosque at Kufa and fired rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and rifles.
There were also significant armed clashes in Karbala when Sadr's men tried to stop an American and Polish convoy approaching a mosque where a Mahdi office had been set up.
American tanks and other vehicles were seen in the heart of the city, just 500 yards from holy shrines.
On Wednesday, Polish forces took back a hotel, former Ba'ath Party headquarters and the regional governor's office in Karbala that had been occupied by the Mahdi.
Five more Mahdi men were killed in Diwaniyah, another southern city where the Mahdi army has a presence, when coalition troops moved in to raid a Sadr office the same day.
Ten more of Sadr's fighters were said to have died during overnight raids in the Sadr City area of Baghdad. All over Iraq, public buildings taken by Sadr were being targeted by coalition forces.
Coalition officials were expressing cautious optimism that last month's Shia uprising had been quelled and that, while a final solution may be weeks away, Sadr is being gradually isolated and marginalised.
They are also relieved that there was relative calm in Fallujah, where Sunni insurgents and foreign fighters have held to an uneasy truce for three days after the new Iraqi "Fallujah Brigade" was set up to police the city.
Some 150 Shia clerics, including representatives of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a moderate who commands the loyalty of most of Iraq's majority Shia population, met at short notice in Baghdad on Tuesday to discuss what to do about Sadr.
Mohammed Bahr al-Ulloum, a leading Shia member of Iraq's Governing Council, then delivered a message from the leaders telling him to accede to an American ultimatum to disarm and disband his militia.
There have been indications that Sadr, 31, is losing support. He is regarded as a reckless upstart by Ayatollah Sistani and faces charges of organising the murder of a rival cleric hacked to death in Najaf last year.
In Najaf, there have been unconfirmed reports that a new group called the Thulfiqar Army has killed at least seven of Sadr's men.
This led many members of the Mahdi militia to shed their identifying black clothing for fear of being assassinated. Most people in Najaf support Mr Sistani and many shopkeepers are angry at the loss of business since Sadr seized the city.
Privately, coalition officials described the Shia leaders' statement after the meeting as "very helpful" although publicly they were more cautious.
Asked whether it could mark a turning point, Gareth Bayley, a British coalition spokesman, said: "It's too early to say but it's always welcome to see Iraqis dealing with an Iraqi problem."
Paul Bremer, the US governor of Iraq, has repeatedly called on moderate Shia leaders to take a firm stance against Sadr. Previously only a few had done so and in much less certain and public a fashion.
In Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed five Iraqis and an American soldier and wounded 25 people by detonating explosives in a car at the entrance to the coalition headquarters.
Opinion polls showed a marked decline in support for President George W Bush yesterday. The first polls since the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal put his approval rating at 47 per cent, the lowest of his presidency.
Six out of 10 Americans questioned by NBC said they feared that events in Iraq were slipping out of control. Asked if toppling Saddam was worth the cost in lives and money, only 42 per cent said yes, compared with 50 per cent in March.
That poll and one for CNN both had Mr Bush tied with his presidential challenger, Senator John Kerry.
The new Iraqi government making a great decision. 150 clerics agreeing Sadr has to go or they will welcome up a can of Marines on his A.
I consider this pretty huge.
Yet knowing the Coalition backs up the word of these clerics is a great motivating factor.
Do it or die. Its the ultimate atum.
Its hard to spin progress in a negative light, but they will try.
Most bestest are Kurdish troops
He will also be crying on November, this will fade away in a week or 2 and he will still be about nothing most Americans want.
Imagine if all the clerics took these braver mens lead and this spread like wildfire.
They should give the same ultimatum to all those who are killing civilians, police, and troops when their strength and influence grows.
The fact that we stayed peacefully outside their city until invited in really impressed them.
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