Sadr militia’s ‘happy to die’

NAJAF, Iraq – Moqtada Sadr’s followers remained defiant yesterday as fighting intensified in Najaf after an Iraqi government minister threatened an offensive against his forces “within hours.”

As loud explosions and gunfire echoed through the historic heart of the Shiite holy city, an aide to Sadr said his Mehdi Army would be happy to die as martyrs. Eight people were killed, at least five of them policemen, and 30 wounded when mortars smashed into the provincial police headquarters in Najaf, hospital and official sources said.Government officials earlier voiced increasing impatience with Sadr, who was said Wednesday to have accepted the conditions by mediators from a national conference in Baghdad, including disarming his militia.”The Iraqi government has laid down conditions that Moqtada Sadr must promise in a press conference not to resort to violence in the future and that the Mehdi Army is to be dissolved,” minister of state Kassem Daoud told a news conference in Najaf.The fiery cleric must also submit names of all people tried by his religious courts and release all detainees, including Iraqi police, soldiers and national guardsmen.”We have been preparing for a military offensive for five days to put an end to this crisis,” the minister said.But Sadr aide Ali Smeisim told reporters that Daoud “is not part of the negotiations.””If there is a US conspiracy orchestrated by US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld and US agents respond to it, then we’ll be happy to be martyrs of this nation,” he said.Confirming on Wednesday that the cleric had “accepted all the conditions extended to him,” aide Sheikh Ahmed al-Shaibani however insisted on a ceasefire for the steps to be implemented.But there was little evidence of that on the ground yesterday as Sadr’s Mehdi Army fired at US tanks parked just 200 metres (yards) away from the mausoleum, effectively trapping Sadr’s men in one of the holiest shrines in Shiite Islam.In Sadr’s other stronghold on the edge of Baghdad, two US soldiers were killed as troops pushed into the slum of Sadr City on Wednesday in an offensive that one officer said killed “slightly over 50 Iraqis”.- Nampa-AFPEight people were killed, at least five of them policemen, and 30 wounded when mortars smashed into the provincial police headquarters in Najaf, hospital and official sources said.Government officials earlier voiced increasing impatience with Sadr, who was said Wednesday to have accepted the conditions by mediators from a national conference in Baghdad, including disarming his militia.”The Iraqi government has laid down conditions that Moqtada Sadr must promise in a press conference not to resort to violence in the future and that the Mehdi Army is to be dissolved,” minister of state Kassem Daoud told a news conference in Najaf.The fiery cleric must also submit names of all people tried by his religious courts and release all detainees, including Iraqi police, soldiers and national guardsmen.”We have been preparing for a military offensive for five days to put an end to this crisis,” the minister said.But Sadr aide Ali Smeisim told reporters that Daoud “is not part of the negotiations.””If there is a US conspiracy orchestrated by US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld and US agents respond to it, then we’ll be happy to be martyrs of this nation,” he said.Confirming on Wednesday that the cleric had “accepted all the conditions extended to him,” aide Sheikh Ahmed al-Shaibani however insisted on a ceasefire for the steps to be implemented.But there was little evidence of that on the ground yesterday as Sadr’s Mehdi Army fired at US tanks parked just 200 metres (yards) away from the mausoleum, effectively trapping Sadr’s men in one of the holiest shrines in Shiite Islam.In Sadr’s other stronghold on the edge of Baghdad, two US soldiers were killed as troops pushed into the slum of Sadr City on Wednesday in an offensive that one officer said killed “slightly over 50 Iraqis”.- Nampa-AFP