Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (752072)	10/20/2006 3:24:10 PM
From: pompsander	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Clashes test plan to put Iraqis in charge By Mariam Karouny and Claudia Parsons 2 hours, 10 minutes ago BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Fierce battles between militia gunmen and police in the southern city of Amara on Friday tested the Iraqi government's ability to rein in sectarian groups and U.S.-led plans to hand over control to Iraqis. ADVERTISEMENT Several hundred gunmen attacked three police stations and set fire to them before an appeal for calm from Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr restored order, officials said. Hundreds of Iraqi soldiers were brought in to support police in the clashes. The Shi'ite-led Iraqi government is struggling to exert its authority over Shi'ite militias blamed for reprisal killings, and to build a viable police force capable of retaining its independence in areas with deep tribal or sectarian loyalties. The latest tensions came after Washington said the results of its 2-month-old campaign to curb violence in Baghdad through mass reinforcements had been disappointing. That setback and rising U.S. casualties have piled pressure on President Bush before November mid-term elections. Around 200 to 300 Shi'ite militia gunmen attacked police stations in Amara on Thursday and Friday, and 10 police and 15 militia gunmen were killed, a spokesman for the British military quoted the chief of police as saying. The British handed over responsibility for Amara to Iraqi forces two months ago. National Security Minister Shirwan al-Waeli, sent to Amara to restore order, told Reuters the situation was "serious" but he denied reports the city was totally under the control of the Mehdi Army, a Shi'ite militia loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. A leader in the Mehdi Army told Reuters Sadr had sent a letter to Amara urging calm. It was read out in mosques. "The clashes erupted after the police raided houses and arrested figures in Amara including some from the Mehdi Army two days ago," the leader said. "Now it is quiet, all afternoon the situation has been quiet." "The Mehdi Army do not control the city, the city is for all the Iraqis," the leader added. "The Mehdi Army do not control the police stations and all these reports are false." MAJOR TEST British Major Charlie Burbridge said British forces had provided air surveillance but the situation was being handled with the help of around 700 Iraqi army troops. "The chief of police has described the situation as calm but tense," Burbridge said on Friday evening. "Moqtada al-Sadr brought the rogue elements of his militia back in line," Burbridge said, adding that the clashes had been very serious. "It represents the first really major test the Iraqi security forces have faced, and they've passed, just," he said. He said British forces had as a precaution prepared a battle group of around 500 troops to provide assistance if needed. The central city of Balad, scene of reprisal killings that killed at least 60 in the past week, was also on alert again after mortars killed nine people on Thursday, prompting Shi'ite militias to attack two nearby Sunni villages, police said. Balad and Amara have both been handed over to Iraqi control by U.S. or British forces in recent months. Amara, a city of around 250,000 people, is the provincial capital of Maysan province, the home of the Marsh Arabs persecuted by Saddam Hussein. British forces plan to hand full control of Maysan to Iraqis in the coming months and Burbridge said that was still on track. The White House said on Friday Bush would resist election-year pressure for a major shift in strategy in Iraq despite growing doubts among voters and Republican lawmakers. At least 73 U.S. troops have been killed this month, one of the highest tolls in recent months. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who this week met powerful Shi'ite clerics Sadr and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to enlist their support in curbing sectarian violence, ordered Waeli to go to Amara on Friday to try to quell the turmoil. Waeli said the trouble had started with the assassination of the head of police intelligence. "Amara is a tribal town so it turned into a crisis," he said, adding that police neutrality was a problem because some officers were loyal to their tribes. "The government is very serious in not allowing the forces to be loyal to any political group," he said.