Shiite Officials Express Anger Over U.S. Clash With Militia
The country's Shiite political leadership on Monday angrily denounced an American-backed military raid on a Shiite compound that left at least 16 people dead, as political leaders suspended talks over the formation of a new government.
The Sunday raid has put considerable strain on a frayed relationship between the Shiite leadership and the American authorities.
Some Shiite leaders warned that the raid was being widely interpreted among their constituents as a strong-arm tactic to pressure the Shiites into making political concessions, including forcing the largest Shiite bloc to drop Mr. Jaafari as its nominee for prime minister in the new government. They demanded that the American authorities give a public and transparent accounting of the incident.
"There was something tragically wrong, and it's got to be explained or it's going to be seen by many to be a crackdown on certain political factions in Iraqi politics," said Haydar al-Abadi, a top advisor to Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. "We are facing a crisis."
President Talabani said at a news conference that Gen. George W. Casey Jr. agreed to the formation of the joint investigative committee. "I will personally supervise, and we will learn who was responsible," the president said. "Those who are behind this attack must be brought to justice and punished."
"Entering the Mustafa Shiite mosque and killing worshippers was unjustified and a horrible violation from my point of view," Interior Ministry Bayan Jabr told the Al-Arabiya television news network. "Innocent people inside the mosque offering prayer at sunset were killed."
Jawad al-Maliki, a deputy of Prime Minister Jaafari's Dawa Party, accused the American command of committing "an ugly crime" that "has dangerous political and security dimensions intended to ignite the fire of civil war."
"We are ready to resist the Americans and strike their bases," vowed Katheer Abdul-Ridha, 22, a member of the Mahdi Army, who was guarding a roadblock in Sadr City. "The Sunnis have nothing to do with this and we shouldn't accuse them of everything that's going on. These are schemes to edge out Jaafari from his post, but God willing, they will fail as long as we back him."
nytimes.com
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