US 'making progress' in holy city

US President George W Bush has said the coalition in Iraq is "making pretty good progress" in the holy city of Najaf, despite ongoing fighting. US forces are battling supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, who rejected an appeal for his men to leave.

The president was speaking after Polish-led forces ceded military authority in two provinces to US marines because of worsening security.

a British soldier was killed in clashes with militiamen loyal to Mr Sadr on the streets of Basra

a 16-hour curfew was imposed on Baghdad's Sadr City, where US-led forces have clashed regularly with supporters of Mr Sadr

threats from Mr Sadr's fighters against oilfields in the south of Iraq forced production to be halted, officials said

four lorry drivers - two Jordanians and two Lebanese - were reportedly freed by Iraqi militants.

The US military spokesman in Baghdad, Major Jay Antonelli, told the BBC that a 24-hour truce called to allow the wounded to be evacuated from Najaf was "no longer in place", blaming enemy attacks

The news that the multinational force was giving up control of Najaf and Qadisiya provinces came in a Polish military statement.

The change was ordered by the senior US officer in Iraq, Gen George Casey, the statement said.

It added that the Americans would not be subject to the multinational mandate, which does not allow combat operations.

Shortly after the announcement about control of Najaf, Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka met US President George W Bush for scheduled talks at the White House in Washington.

Mr Bush was asked if, following the fighting against Mr Sadr's forces, the US policy was still to capture or kill him.

Our policy is to work with [Iraqi] Prime Minister [Iyad] Allawi and support the Iraqis as they move toward elections," he said.

"Our troops were engaged against Sadr's militia and so were the Iraqis, and it appears we're making pretty good progress about stabilising Najaf."

Asked about Polish opinion polls suggesting 73% of Poles want their troops to leave Iraq, Mr Belka said no-one wanted to stay in Iraq forever, although he added that the two men had not talked about specific timings for a withdrawal.

The BBC's Dan Griffiths in Washington says the situation in Iraq is putting a strain on the traditionally strong relationship between the US and Poland.

Our correspondent says US marines have been in nominal control of the Najaf area since Spain withdrew its troops after a change of government in March, and the handover by Polish troops confirms that position.

Mr Sadr has rejected Iraqi government calls for his men to leave Najaf and vowed to defend the city.

"I will stay in holy Najaf and will not leave it," he told a news conference on Monday. "I will stay here in defence of holy Najaf because it is the holiest city and I will stay there until the last drop of my blood."

The fighting erupted in Najaf on Thursday, when members of Mr Sadr's militia - known as the "Mehdi Army" - clashed with Iraqi police and governor Adnan al-Zorfi requested American support.

Najaf

An Islamic holy city, Najaf is home to the shrine of Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet Mohammad’s cousin and son-in-law and fourth caliph (656-661). Najaf also contains one of the largest cemeteries in the world. According to Imam Ali, any Muslim buried here will enter paradise; as a result, the tombs of several prophets are found in Najaf. Shia Muslims especially consider it a privilege to be buried here. Like Karbala, Najaf became an important center of Islamic scholarship and theology. During his exile from Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini lived here for 12 years prior to the 1979 revolution in Iran. In 1999, the Iraqi Shia leader Ayatollah Mohammad Sadiq al-Sadr was assassinated in Najaf, sparking clashes between Shia and the Iraqi government.

Najaf has a population of 560,000, and Muhammad's son-in-law, Imam Ali bin Ali Talib, is buried in the Imam Ali mosque. Iran's Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini spent 1964-78 in exile in Najaf. The holy city of Najaf is located 160 kilometers South of Baghdad and 60 km to the south of Hilla. Najaf in arabic means a high land where water cannot be reached. It is a city situated on high plateau over a sandy ground looking down from northern and eastern sides on wide scope camp of domes and tombs called valley of the peace. Najaf is a city of low-level sprawl, with boulevards lined by trees, arched brick buildings, and streets filled with bearded clerics wearing white or black turbans. Najaf is the spiritual center of Shiite Islam, site of the shrine of the Imam Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammad and first leader of the Shias.
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http://www.globalsecurity.org/_inc/qs.htm

IRAQ THE MODEL
Tuesday, August 10, 2004

http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/
American Humvees are patrolling Najaf’s streets and announcing through loudspeakers that civilians should evacuate Najaf city as soon as possible. This has coincided with the departure of all the 4 most important clerics from Najaf today “ Grand Ayetullah” (The last one left today). Also a curfew was announced yesterday in Sadr city from 4 p.m. till 8 a.m. and will continue for an undeclared time.

It seems that it’s time at last! I hope they get Muqtada this time and also all his deputies. People here are not only disgusted and upset with this gang but also most of them showed extreme anger and some of them went as far as condemning Islam and even the Mahdi himself!! I don’t agree of course with that, as Muqtada has nothing to do with Islam.

A She’at taxi driver told me, “ Why are we doing this!? Why among all religions we commit such horrible crimes?? If this is Islam then s**t on it and on Mahdi himself, we don’t want this! They went as far as attacking peaceful churches and I really don’t understand why! This is not the Islam we were raised to believe in, the Islam of peace and tolerance. I wish I could see this idiot dead.”

One of my colleagues; a She’at who used to sympathize greatly with Islamist whether She’at or Sunni, told me today that he is shocked with what the Mahdi army is doing, “ When he revolted the 1st time and they called him an outlaw we didn’t like it. How can they call a cleric who’s the son of Iraq’s most respectable Ayetullah, an outlaw. Now I cannot and I do not want to defend him. He’s a criminal and so are all his followers. They have killed civilians, policemen, destroyed a gas station in Sadr city, and are threatening to burn down the oil pipelines now! Why and for what!?”

None of the people I met today showed any sympathy with Sadr and all of them showed eagerness to end this situation in a decisive way, not by negotiation but through capturing or killing Sadr and disarming his militia, but some of them showed pity towards the simple men who are deceived by his propaganda and are till now paying for it instead of the real criminals; Muqtada and his deputies. Many of them were unhappy with the hesitancy the government have shown, as they think that the government and the coalition forces are being rather soft with Muqtada. They all said that the way this will be dealt with should be a lesson to all freedom haters and should send a warning to anyone who might have similar stupid ambitions.

- posted by Omar @ 14:19

Monday, August 09, 2004

The chief of Najaf IP, brigadier Ghalib Al Jazaeri was interviewed by Al Sharqyia TV today and gave some important statements. Mr. Ghalib confirmed the IP control over the majority Najaf and said that Al Mahdi militia are besieged in small areas. He also said that most of them are surrendering and that among the 1200 captured till now there are 1000 from outside Najaf (Basra, Kut, Amarah, Baghdad) and 4 of them were Iranians who confessed that they have joined the Mahdi army. Those 4 were Transferred to Baghdad for “The importance of the information they have”.

The man’s anger was showing and he slammed his hand against the meeting table as he said that Muqtada’s militia are the ones who broke the truce, as the truce depended on many conditions among which is the disappearance of armed men from the streets and their departure from the city, and that never happened. Also the so-called “legitimate court” founded by Muqtada was still there and was functioning despite the truce and even ‘arrested’ IP members and was trying to prosecute them! He also affirmed that the militia were the ones who started attacking the police station and the city hall.

Mr. Ghalib confirmed that there will be no negotiation with those who he described as “evil that we must get rid of” and repeated that no one is above the law, and resented the attempts of “The Sheát House” to help start negotiation with Sadr and he said that he still have the warrant of Muqtada’s arrest and he’s working on this persistently. He mentioned that yesterday he was in front of Muqtada’s house with a group of IP and ING but the door was closed and no one was in the house.

He made it clear that he will arrest Muqtada as soon as he find him and that he was a law man and has nothing to do with what politicians are trying and he will carry on with his orders and will enforce law. The police chief insisted that Muqtada was still in Najaf according to his information and he finally said that he won’t hesitate to ask for support and back up from the multinational force which he describes as “friends” to get the “evil” out of the city of Najaf.

I must say that I liked what the man said and especially his tone and strong dedication to do his job regardless of the dangers he may face and is facing now.

Also his statement that most of the thugs were from outside Najaf rule out all the claims that this is an uprising, as if it was so then we would’ve seen the people of the city themselves revolting in large numbers but the fact is that Muqtada has gathered his criminals from many cities and focused on Najaf and Baghdad only because he knew he wouldn’t find enough people to support him had he depended on the people of Najaf alone. While the fights in other cities were small compared to Baghdad and Najaf and there was absolutely no fights in the rural areas which shows that the distribution of fighters was planned to focus on important areas only, and this ensures more media coverage which in my mind is one of the main goals of such movement, as it’s clearly supported and planned by outside parties which are dying to show Iraq as an unstable and hopeless place. Besides we all saw how the people of Najaf were delighted to see the IP control the city again in the previous revolt after many days of fighting. Also an uprising is a reaction rather than a planned action and here the percentage of the fighters from outside the city show clearly that this is closer to a planned revolt.

I also admired the man honesty and courage in calling things by their names on TV especially calling Muqtada “evil” and coalition forces “ friends”. I hope the government depend more and more on people like this man who I heard from my friends in Najaf that he’s a very good and respected man.

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