Tacit endorsement of new Iraqi govt

NAJAF – Fighting broke out yesterday in nearby Kufa between US soldiers and Shiite militiamen – the eighth straight day of clashes since a deal last week to end the violence.

The country’s most influential Shiite cleric, meanwhile, tacitly endorsed Iraq’s new interim government. At least six Iraqis were killed and 11 injured in the skirmishes in Kufa, Najaf’s twin city and stronghold of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, militiamen hospital officials said.Smoke rose over the dun-colored, flat-roofed houses of the city 160 kilometres south of Baghdad.Fighting has rocked Kufa since Shiite leaders announced May 27 that al-Sadr had agreed on a formula to end the confrontation with the Americans in Najaf and Kufa, which together contain some of the most sacred shrines in Shia Islam.However, the Army has retained the right to mount armed patrols, which al-Sadr’s militia, the al-Mahdi Army, considers a provocation.The Americans are reluctant to stop patrols until an Iraqi force is ready to assume security responsibility.Most of the police deserted after al-Sadr launched his rebellion in April.In the past eight days, 17 Iraqis have been killed and 74 injured, according to hospitals in Kufa.US forces say two US soldiers have been killed and eight injured during the same period.CNN, which has a correspondent embedded with the 1st Armored Division in the area, said fighting began after about 100 US soldiers rolled into the center of Kufa early yesterday looking for militiamen who had fired mortar rounds at an American base between Najaf and Kufa, using in some cases lethal 120mm shells.CNN quoted US officials as estimating that about 30 militiamen were killed, but it didn’t say when.In a statement issued in Baghdad, the US military said soldiers from the 1st Armored Division’s 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment came under mortar, rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire while approaching a school where weapons were believed stored.”Soldiers returned fire, killing a significant number of attackers,” the statement said.”Three Soldiers were wounded.”It said troops searched the school and found two 82mm mortar tubes, a 120mm mortar tube, two RPG launchers with RPGs; a light anti-tank weapon, several Kalashnikov assault rifles, 10 hand grenades; 40 60mm mortar rounds, and 20 120mm mortar rounds.Although Najaf is relatively quiet, daily clashes in Kufa have rendered the truce almost meaningless.The Americans, who consider al-Sadr a gangster, have refused direct negotiations with him but have agreed to halt “offensive operations.”Following yesterday’s initial clashes, residents of Kufa ventured carefully into the streets, examining charred market stalls and other signs of battle damage.At least one large crater pocked a dirt road.Merchants showed twisted piles of molten debris which had once been their sources of livelihood.The uprising began two months ago after the US-led coalition closed al-Sadr’s newspaper, arrested a top aide and announced an arrest warrant charging him with murder in the April 2003 death of a moderate cleric in Najaf.US officials have long sought to suppress the outspoken anti-American al-Sadr, son of a revered religious leader believed have been murdered by Saddam Hussein’s agents in 1999.The fighting in Najaf and Kufa have raised fears of splits in the majority Shiite community, which aspires to political power in Iraq after the US occupation ends June 30.Senior Shiite clerics oppose al-Sadr but have refrained from trying to silence him for fear of worsening communal splits and losing influence at a time when the young firebrand’s anti-US rhetoric is finding greater resonance among Iraqis.After weeks of relative silence, the country’s leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani issued a statement here yesterday tacitly endorsing the new interim Iraqi government and urging it to lobby with the UN Security Council for genuine sovereignty to remove “all traces” of the occupation.- Nampa-APAt least six Iraqis were killed and 11 injured in the skirmishes in Kufa, Najaf’s twin city and stronghold of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, militiamen hospital officials said.Smoke rose over the dun-colored, flat-roofed houses of the city 160 kilometres south of Baghdad.Fighting has rocked Kufa since Shiite leaders announced May 27 that al-Sadr had agreed on a formula to end the confrontation with the Americans in Najaf and Kufa, which together contain some of the most sacred shrines in Shia Islam.However, the Army has retained the right to mount armed patrols, which al-Sadr’s militia, the al-Mahdi Army, considers a provocation.The Americans are reluctant to stop patrols until an Iraqi force is ready to assume security responsibility.Most of the police deserted after al-Sadr launched his rebellion in April.In the past eight days, 17 Iraqis have been killed and 74 injured, according to hospitals in Kufa.US forces say two US soldiers have been killed and eight injured during the same period.CNN, which has a correspondent embedded with the 1st Armored Division in the area, said fighting began after about 100 US soldiers rolled into the center of Kufa early yesterday looking for militiamen who had fired mortar rounds at an American base between Najaf and Kufa, using in some cases lethal 120mm shells.CNN quoted US officials as estimating that about 30 militiamen were killed, but it didn’t say when.In a statement issued in Baghdad, the US military said soldiers from the 1st Armored Division’s 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment came under mortar, rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire while approaching a school where weapons were believed stored.”Soldiers returned fire, killing a significant number of attackers,” the statement said.”Three Soldiers were wounded.”It said troops searched the school and found two 82mm mortar tubes, a 120mm mortar tube, two RPG launchers with RPGs; a light anti-tank weapon, several Kalashnikov assault rifles, 10 hand grenades; 40 60mm mortar rounds, and 20 120mm mortar rounds.Although Najaf is relatively quiet, daily clashes in Kufa have rendered the truce almost meaningless.The Americans, who consider al-Sadr a gangster, have refused direct negotiations with him but have agreed to halt “offensive operations.”Following yesterday’s initial clashes, residents of Kufa ventured carefully into the streets, examining charred market stalls and other signs of battle damage.At least one large crater pocked a dirt road.Merchants showed twisted piles of molten debris which had once been their sources of livelihood.The uprising began two months ago after the US-led coalition closed al-Sadr’s newspaper, arrested a top aide and announced an arrest warrant charging him with murder in the April 2003 death of a moderate cleric in Najaf.US officials have long sought to suppress the outspoken anti-American al-Sadr, son of a revered religious leader believed have been murdered by Saddam Hussein’s agents in 1999.The fighting in Najaf and Kufa have raised fears of splits in the majority Shiite community, which aspires to political power in Iraq after the US occupation ends June 30.Senior Shiite clerics oppose al-Sadr but have refrained from trying to silence him for fear of worsening communal splits and losing influence at a time when the young firebrand’s anti-US rhetoric is finding greater resonance among Iraqis.After weeks of relative silence, the country’s leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani issued a statement here yesterday tacitly endorsing the new interim Iraqi government and urging it to lobby with the UN Security Council for genuine sovereignty to remove “all traces” of the occupation.- Nampa-AP