Post by POA on May 14, 2004 18:46:51 GMT -5
10.15am update
US battles insurgents in Najaf cemetery
· Troops backed by tanks take on al-Sadr's men
· Release of 300 prisoners from Abu Ghraib begins
· Tribal chief and daughter killed in blast
Staff and agencies
Friday May 14, 2004
US soldiers backed by tanks moved onto sacred ground in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf today, pushing deep into its ancient cemetery in a fierce battle with insurgents loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
At least three tanks blasted suspected insurgent positions among the tombs with cannon, according to a Reuters correspondent. Iraqi fighters appeared to be hitting back with rocket-propelled grenades.
Mr Sadr's fighters retreated from the vast cemetery to alleyways and residential areas, while American forces moved on the main roads. Shots rang out close to the Imam Ali shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam. There were no reported casualties.
The fighting began on a road leading from Najaf to the nearby city of Kufa, where Mr Sadr was scheduled to deliver a sermon at Friday prayers. At least one American tank was stationed on the road, according to the Associated Press. Mr Sadr, a fierce opponent of the US-led occupation of Iraq, launched an uprising last month in Baghdad and several southern cities. A coalition-backed Iraqi judge has issued an arrest warrant for Mr Sadr in connection with the murder of a rival moderate cleric last year.
Military commanders originally said they would not attack Mr Sadr's stronghold among the shrines of Najaf for fear of angering the wider Shia community. But the US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, warned last month that the reported stockpiling of weapons in mosques and shrines could turn such sites into targets for military action
Meanwhile, the US military began releasing about 300 prisoners from Abu Ghraib, the prison at the centre of the abuse allegations that have rocked the Bush administration.
One bus carrying 17 prisoners left the jail and drove to an American military base in west Baghdad, where tribal leaders awaited them. The prisoners kneeled and prayed beside the bus. The coalition periodically releases prisoners from the jail, on the western outskirts of Baghdad. Some 315 were scheduled for release today, and the next release was planned for May 21.
The development came one day after US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Abu Ghraib camp and encouraged the commander in charge of the prison, Major General Geoffrey Miller, to thin out the prisoner population as quickly as possible.
Residents reported intermittent gunfire in the southern city of Kerbala, where American troops and the cleric's militia, the Mahdi Army, have fought intense battles this week.
North-east of Baghdad, a bomb exploded in front of the house of a tribal chief, killing him and one of his daughters.
The motive for the killing of Roukan Mughir, head of the Miahi tribe, was unclear. Local residents said he had been cooperating with American forces, however, and insurgents often target Iraqis viewed as collaborators. Another daughter and a son of the chief were injured in the blast, hospital officials said.
The latest violence came as the US national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said Washington was aiming to engage Russia in drafting a new UN security council resolution on Iraq.
Veto-wielding Russia opposed the US-led war, which was launched last year without a UN mandate.
In remarks ahead of a visit to Moscow, Ms Rice said the council's members were involved in informal talks on a resolution sponsored by Britain, confirming the appointment of a new Iraqi provisional government and the continued presence of US forces when the US-led occupation formally ends on June 30.
The US is hoping that, by including Russia in the negotiations on what the new resolution should contain, it will overcome Moscow's opposition to greater UN involvement.
"We are looking for consultations," Ms Rice, who will have talks with President Vladimir Putin during her visit, was quoted as saying by Izvestia daily newspaper. "We want to find out Russians' opinion on what this resolution should contain."
The United States, which initially relied on a "coalition of the willing" to oust Saddam Hussein, has stepped up calls for a stronger UN involvement after failing to subdue resistance and suffering mounting losses in Iraq.
The latest surge of violence in Iraq has placed a question mark over US plans to hand over sovereignty to the Iraqis on June 30 and run national elections early next year.
The United States also wants the United Nations to give an endorsement for security control over Iraq by US-led coalition forces beyond June 30.
"We hope the new security council resolution will renew the mandate of the multinational forces to offer assistance for Iraqis until they are able to ensure their own security - something they lack now," Ms Rice was quoted as saying.
Russian leaders have said they want a conference, similar to one held for post-Taliban Afghanistan in 2002, to decide before the June 30 deadline the scale of international involvement and the shape of Iraq's transitional government. "Iraq's provisional government, formed on the basis of such consensus, would become legitimate and viable in the eyes of Iraqis and the international community," Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said last week.
