Protests grow as Iraq battles continue
Tens of thousands of Shiite protesters took to the streets today over the government's crackdown against militias in Basra as heavy fighting between Iraqi security forces and gunmen erupted for a third day in the southern oil port and Baghdad.
Iraqi officials reported 17 more people killed in overnight clashes in Baghdad's main Shiite district of Sadr City and raised the number of deaths from fighting in the southern city of Hillah to at least 60.
Mounting anger focused on Iraq's Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is personally overseeing an operation against Shiite militias dominated by followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr amid a violent power struggle in Basra.
The events threatened to unravel a Mahdi Army ceasefire and spark a dramatic escalation in violence after months of relative calm.
There is minimal presence of the coalition in Basra after British forces turned over responsibility for the area to the Iraqis last December, and the crisis was seen as a test of the Iraqi government's ability to eventually take over its own security.
Demonstrators in the northern Baghdad neighbourhood of Kazimiyah called al-Maliki a "new dictator" as they carried a coffin bearing a crossed-out picture of the US-backed prime minister, who belongs to a rival political party.
A sea of people also rallied in Sadr City, chanting slogans against the government and in favour of al-Sadr amid rising fears that the cleric's ceasefire order to his Mahdi Army militia is unravelling.
Sheik Salman al-Feraiji, al-Sadr's chief representative in Sadr City, issued a statement with demands to quell the discontent, including the release of Sadrist detainees, an end to military operations against them and al-Maliki's resignation.
Suspected Shiite extremists also hammered Baghdad's US-protected Green Zone for the fourth day this week, firing several salvoes of rockets that sent a huge plume of smoke above the heavily fortified area in central Baghdad.
The US military said 16 rockets slammed into the Green Zone yesterday, wounding two soldiers and two civilians.
The violence continued a day after Mr al-Maliki warned gunmen in Basra to surrender their weapons by tomorrow or face harsher measures, as clashes between security forces and Shiite militia fighters spread throughout the south and in Baghdad.
Despite the ultimatum, heavy gunfire and explosions resounded across Basra while helicopters and jet fighters buzzed overhead. The city's police chief escaped an assassination attempt but three of his guards were killed in the roadside bombing.
Government troops have faced stiff resistance in district controlled by the Mahdi Army in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city.
The violence also was raising concerns about Iraq's beleaguered oil industry since Basra accounts for most of the country's exports.
A bomb struck an oil pipeline there today, but Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani attempted to reassure international oil companies.
"The security situation in Basra is still unstable ... but this has not reflected negatively works at oil output and export installations," he said.
