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U.S.-Iraqi offensive nets suspected rebels

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi troops launched a military offensive in Baghdad's western Abu Ghraib district late Sunday and detained an unspecified number of suspected insurgents, the military said.

Four battalions of Iraqi troops and three battalions of police backed by U.S. forces on foot and in military vehicles cordoned off areas across western Baghdad and searched "suspected terrorist locations," the statement said.

Operation Squeeze Play was launched to "minimize insurgent activity in western Baghdad," including Abu Ghraib, the military said, focusing on an area in which militants have launched numerous attacks, particularly against the U.S.-run detention facility located there.

The suspects were being held for further questioning.

The statement lauded the cooperation between the Iraqi army and interior ministry forces.

"Iraqi army and ministry of interior forces worked very well together and demonstrated good, solid fundamental skills today," said Col. Mark A. Milley, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.

A major part of the U.S. exit strategy from Iraq is aimed at building up an Iraqi security force capable of maintaining order and combating the country's rampant insurgency.

From 2nd left, Muqtada al-Sadr's aide Hazim al-Araji, Muqtada al-Sadr's aide Abdul-Hadi al-Daraji, Senior Sunni Cleric Abdul Salam al-Kubaisi, and Muqtada al-Sadr's aide Nasir al-Saidi leave a meeting between the two religious groups at Baghdad's Sunni Um al-Qura mosque in Iraq Sunday, May 22, 2005. Man at left is unidentified. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Shiite's Aides Meet Sunnis to Ease Tension

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN Associated Press Writer

The Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq May 22, 2005 — Aides of a radical Shiite cleric met on Sunday with a key Sunni group seeking to ease sectarian tensions in Iraq, while gunmen killed a top trade ministry official as a spree of violence that followed the announcement of a new government entered its fourth week.

Iraqi authorities released Ghazi Hammud al-Obeidi, one of the most-wanted officials from Saddam Hussein's former regime, because he is apparently terminally ill, Justice Minister Abdel Hussein Shandal and the suspect's lawyer said Sunday.

Iraq's government also said it had captured a "terrorist" close to the network of militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who had planned car bomb attacks and rigged booby-trapped cars for foreign fighters.

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Separately, three Romanian journalists and their Iraqi-American guide who had been held hostage for nearly two months in Iraq were released.

Senior aides of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr met a key Sunni group in a bid to soothe tensions that have flared amid violence that has killed at least 550 people, including 10 Shiite and Sunni clerics, since the new Shiite-dominated government was announced on April 28. More

"Somebody PLEASE squish Muqtada Al Sadr."

Al Sadr should have gone down a long time ago. His days are numbered. The Iraqis are getting very tired of all the funerals. I'm getting tired of seeing the American flad desecrated. Sadr and company painted flags on the pavement the other day so Iraqis could walk on them--the ultimate insult. Remember when Saddam put a mosaic of George HW Bush's face at the entrance of a government building? Grrrr!