lily
03-27-2008, 10:51 PM
Link (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23788065/)
U.S. restricts movement of Americans in Baghdad
Move comes after 2 killed in militant attacks on Green Zone
MSNBC staff and news service reports
updated 7 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - The State Department on Thursday told all workers at the U.S.
Embassy in Baghdad not to leave reinforced structures following the deaths
of two Americans in attacks on the Green Zone, a heavily fortified area
besieged by militants this week.
The Baghdad military command imposed a curfew on the capital from 11 p.m.
Thursday to 5 a.m. Sunday in bid to stem the violence.
One American was killed Thursday by incoming insurgent fire on the Green
Zone. U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo identified the person as a
government employee but said she could give no further details until
relatives were notified.
An American financial analyst was killed Sunday in the first volley to
strike the zone.
The U.S. military has blamed Iranian-backed Shiite militiamen for the
attacks, which come as amid heightened tensions between followers of radical
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Shiite-led government.
Iraq’s prime minister vowed Thursday to fight “until the end” against the
militias in Basra despite protests by tens of thousands of followers of the
radical cleric.
Mounting anger focused on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is personally
overseeing operations against the militias dominated by al-Sadr’s supporters
amid a violent power struggle in Basra, Iraq’s southern oil hub.
“We have made up our minds to enter this battle and we will continue until
the end. No retreat,” al-Maliki said in a speech broadcast on Iraqi state
TV.
The crisis was seen as a test of the Iraqi government’s ability to
eventually take over its own security. The U.S.-led coalition has a minimal
presence in Basra after British forces turned over responsibility for the
area to the Iraqis in late December.
"Iraq is now responsible for security in Basra," U.S. National Security
Advisor Stephen Hadley said Wednesday.
Expectations for Iraq
The events in Basra threatened to unravel a Mahdi Army cease-fire and lead
to a dramatic escalation in violence after a period of relative calm that
had lasted for months.
"I think there's no doubt that a serious failure here by the central
government will really dampen expectations that any success in Iraq is
(only) going to be in the near term," Kathleen Hicks of the Center for
Strategic and International Studies told NBC News.
Sadrist lawmakers in Baghdad issued a strongly worded statement demanding a
halt to the military operations and appealing to Iraqi security forces to
stand down.
“We call on our brothers in the Iraqi army and the brave national police not
to be tools of death in the hands of the new dictatorship,” Sadrist lawmaker
Falah Shanshal said.
Demonstrators in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Kazimiyah called
al-Maliki a “new dictator” as they carried a coffin bearing a crossed-out
picture of the U.S.-backed prime minister, who belongs to a rival political
party. A sea of people also rallied in Sadr City, Baghdad’s main Shiite
district.
Suspected Shiite extremists also continued to hammer the U.S.-protected
Green Zone, firing several rounds of apparent rockets that sent a huge plume
of smoke above the heavily fortified area in central Baghdad.
No casualties were immediately reported Thursday, but the military said a
U.S. soldier, two American civilians and an Iraqi soldier were wounded in a
volley the day before. An American financial analyst was killed Sunday in
attacks on the Green Zone.
Civilian spokesman kidnapped
Meanwhile, gunmen kidnapped an Iraqi civilian spokesman for Baghdad security
operations Thursday and killed three of his bodyguards after torching his
house in a Mahdi Army stronghold in the capital.
The attack targeted Tahseen Sheikhly, a Sunni who often appeared with U.S.
military and embassy officials at news conferences to tout the successes of
the crackdown on sectarian violence that began in February 2007.
The demonstrating Sadrists are angry over recent raids and detentions,
saying U.S. and Iraqi forces have taken advantage of the August cease-fire
to crack down on the movement.
They have accused rival Shiite parties, which control Iraqi security forces,
of engineering the arrests to prevent them from mounting an effective
campaign after the Iraqi parliament agreed in February to hold provincial
elections by the fall.
U.S. commanders have insisted the fight is being led by the Iraqi government
and was not against al-Sadr’s movement but breakaway factions believed to be
funded and trained by Iran, which has denied the allegations.
Al-Maliki has warned gunmen in Basra to surrender their weapons by Friday or
face harsher measures.
U.S. restricts movement of Americans in Baghdad
Move comes after 2 killed in militant attacks on Green Zone
MSNBC staff and news service reports
updated 7 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - The State Department on Thursday told all workers at the U.S.
Embassy in Baghdad not to leave reinforced structures following the deaths
of two Americans in attacks on the Green Zone, a heavily fortified area
besieged by militants this week.
The Baghdad military command imposed a curfew on the capital from 11 p.m.
Thursday to 5 a.m. Sunday in bid to stem the violence.
One American was killed Thursday by incoming insurgent fire on the Green
Zone. U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo identified the person as a
government employee but said she could give no further details until
relatives were notified.
An American financial analyst was killed Sunday in the first volley to
strike the zone.
The U.S. military has blamed Iranian-backed Shiite militiamen for the
attacks, which come as amid heightened tensions between followers of radical
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Shiite-led government.
Iraq’s prime minister vowed Thursday to fight “until the end” against the
militias in Basra despite protests by tens of thousands of followers of the
radical cleric.
Mounting anger focused on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is personally
overseeing operations against the militias dominated by al-Sadr’s supporters
amid a violent power struggle in Basra, Iraq’s southern oil hub.
“We have made up our minds to enter this battle and we will continue until
the end. No retreat,” al-Maliki said in a speech broadcast on Iraqi state
TV.
The crisis was seen as a test of the Iraqi government’s ability to
eventually take over its own security. The U.S.-led coalition has a minimal
presence in Basra after British forces turned over responsibility for the
area to the Iraqis in late December.
"Iraq is now responsible for security in Basra," U.S. National Security
Advisor Stephen Hadley said Wednesday.
Expectations for Iraq
The events in Basra threatened to unravel a Mahdi Army cease-fire and lead
to a dramatic escalation in violence after a period of relative calm that
had lasted for months.
"I think there's no doubt that a serious failure here by the central
government will really dampen expectations that any success in Iraq is
(only) going to be in the near term," Kathleen Hicks of the Center for
Strategic and International Studies told NBC News.
Sadrist lawmakers in Baghdad issued a strongly worded statement demanding a
halt to the military operations and appealing to Iraqi security forces to
stand down.
“We call on our brothers in the Iraqi army and the brave national police not
to be tools of death in the hands of the new dictatorship,” Sadrist lawmaker
Falah Shanshal said.
Demonstrators in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Kazimiyah called
al-Maliki a “new dictator” as they carried a coffin bearing a crossed-out
picture of the U.S.-backed prime minister, who belongs to a rival political
party. A sea of people also rallied in Sadr City, Baghdad’s main Shiite
district.
Suspected Shiite extremists also continued to hammer the U.S.-protected
Green Zone, firing several rounds of apparent rockets that sent a huge plume
of smoke above the heavily fortified area in central Baghdad.
No casualties were immediately reported Thursday, but the military said a
U.S. soldier, two American civilians and an Iraqi soldier were wounded in a
volley the day before. An American financial analyst was killed Sunday in
attacks on the Green Zone.
Civilian spokesman kidnapped
Meanwhile, gunmen kidnapped an Iraqi civilian spokesman for Baghdad security
operations Thursday and killed three of his bodyguards after torching his
house in a Mahdi Army stronghold in the capital.
The attack targeted Tahseen Sheikhly, a Sunni who often appeared with U.S.
military and embassy officials at news conferences to tout the successes of
the crackdown on sectarian violence that began in February 2007.
The demonstrating Sadrists are angry over recent raids and detentions,
saying U.S. and Iraqi forces have taken advantage of the August cease-fire
to crack down on the movement.
They have accused rival Shiite parties, which control Iraqi security forces,
of engineering the arrests to prevent them from mounting an effective
campaign after the Iraqi parliament agreed in February to hold provincial
elections by the fall.
U.S. commanders have insisted the fight is being led by the Iraqi government
and was not against al-Sadr’s movement but breakaway factions believed to be
funded and trained by Iran, which has denied the allegations.
Al-Maliki has warned gunmen in Basra to surrender their weapons by Friday or
face harsher measures.