 |
| |
|
|
Sprayber
|
 |
Dixie
Oct 2000
time: 23:35
|
|
Apparently his vow to fight to the death didn't really mean to his death. 
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm..._nm/iraq_dc_279
quote:
Iraq Cleric Agrees to End Uprising, Demands Truce
By Michael Georgy
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - A radical Iraqi cleric leading a Shi'ite uprising agreed Wednesday to disarm his militia and leave one of the country's holiest Islamic shrines, but only after a truce with encircling U.S. Marines.
The dramatic announcement appeared to avert a bloodbath after Iraq (news - web sites)'s interim government only hours earlier threatened to storm the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf to teach Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia "a lesson they will never forget."
Iraq's Defense Ministry Wednesday ordered Shi'ite militiamen in Najaf to immediately lay down their weapons and leave the shrine.
The ministry said in a statement radical cleric Sadr and his followers would be granted amnesty only after they abandon an armed uprising in Najaf and at least seven other cities.
The statement made no mention of an earlier demand by Sadr that U.S. Marines agree a truce before he would disarm his militia and leave the shrine.
Explosions and gunfire still echoed around the mosque after Sadr agreed to end his two-week rebellion, which has posed the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Iyad Allawi since he took over from U.S.-led occupiers on June 28.
"Sayyed Moqtada and his fighters are ready to throw down their weapons and leave for the sake of Iraq," Ali al-Yassiri, Sadr's political liaison officer, told Reuters.
"But they should stop attacking him first and pull away from the shrine."
Delegates at a meeting in Baghdad that chose an interim national assembly said Sadr had agreed to accept their demands to resolve the crisis that has killed hundreds, spread to seven other cities and rattled world oil markets.
Sadr's fighters have holed up in the shrine in the heart of the southern city, hoping U.S. and Iraqi forces will not dare to attack the holiest site for Iraq's majority Shi'ites.
Jalil al-Shumari, a delegate to the Baghdad meeting, read a letter from Sadr's office announcing the cleric had backed down.
"TEACH THEM A LESSON"
Defense Minister Hazim al-Shaalan had some six hours earlier said an assault was imminent on the golden-domed mosque.
"We will teach them a lesson they will never forget," Shaalan said in the city after meeting local officials.
American Marines and soldiers have been doing most of the fighting in Najaf, but Shaalan said Iraqi forces had been training to storm the shrine complex and that U.S. forces would not enter.
Sadr's acceptance of the demands marks a sharp turnaround for the icon of Iraq's impoverished Shi'ite youth, who had threatened to fight to the death if necessary.
The scion of a Shi'ite clerical dynasty and aged about 30, Sadr is the most powerful opponent of the United States and the interim government.
The director of Najaf's main hospital, Falah al-Muhana, said 29 people had been brought in killed or wounded in the clashes Wednesday, but there were no more precise figures. U.S. casualties are treated at their own bases.
Apart from Sadr leaving the shrine, the delegates demanded Sadr's men lay down their weapons and the cleric and his men disavow violence and participate in elections set for January.
ASSEMBLY CHOSEN
The Baghdad conference announced members of a new council to oversee the interim government.
A list of 81 government-backed candidates was chosen after four days of deliberations. The rest were made up of members of Iraq's now defunct governing council.
The meeting was prolonged for a day by disputes over Najaf and wrangling over the make-up of the council.
"This was an illegitimate process that was dominated by the government and did not represent the composition of Iraq," said independent delegate Jawad al-Ubaidi.
The council will be able to veto legislation with a two thirds majority, approve the 2005 budget and appoint a new prime minister or president should either quit or die in office.
A delegation from the meeting flew to Najaf Tuesday to try to broker a deal, but Sadr refused to meet them.
The Najaf uprising has exposed the government's reliance on U.S. troops, a big dilemma for Allawi ahead of January polls.
Allawi must be seen to tackle the challenge to his authority, but using heavy-handed tactics near Najaf's shrines could enrage the country's 60-percent Shi'ite majority.
Iraq's health ministry said Wednesday 21 people had been killed in clashes in Baghdad, Basra, Diwaniya and Najaf and dozens wounded in the past 24 hours. Clashes continued in the Iraqi capital.
In Baghdad, an American soldier was shot dead while on patrol in a suburb that is a Sadr stronghold, the U.S. military said. At least 707 U.S. servicemen and women have been killed in action in Iraq since the start of last year's U.S.-led invasion.
Insurgents also fired mortar rounds in Baghdad, with one landing near the venue for choosing the assembly. Two more mortar bombs were fired near the Interior Ministry in Baghdad. No casualties were reported in either attack.
But in the northern city of Mosul, a mortar bomb hit a market, killing five civilians and wounding 21, officials said. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Ned
|
 |
of Aptos, CA
Oct 1999
time: 21:35
|
|
BTW, when the news of that World Court decision on the "wall" was announced, I nearly fell off my seat when I read that the court had found that there was "NO" demonstrable security necessity for the wall. Once the court makes such a finding, the rest clearly follows. But the finding itself is so flagrantly biased against Israel as to be beyond acceptability.
I wonder where our great "putative" world leader Kerry is on this decision. I bet he supports it, the fool.
Last edited by Ned on 19-08-2004 at 17:19
|
|
| |
All times are GMT. The time now is 05:35.
Apolyton Time is 00:35. |
top of page
|
| archivepost |
|
Forum Rules:
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
|
HTML code is ON
vB code is ON
Smilies are ON
[IMG] code is ON
|
|
|
|
|
|
18-08-2004 02:21
|
|