Iraqi ceasefire broken
US soldiers clashed with Shiite gunmen in the holy city of Najaf today despite an agreement to end the bloody stand off with followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The exchange of gunfire came only a day after the US-appointed governor of Najaf accused al-Sadr of failing to honour a deal to end the fighting. It was not immediately clear if anyone was hurt.
Al-Sadr’s uprising, which began last month, opened a second front for the US military, which had already been battling Sunni Muslim guerrillas to the west and north of Baghdad and in the capital itself.
Three Marines died in action in Anbar province on Saturday, which extends from just west of Baghdad to the Syrian and Jordanian borders, the US command said.
In Najaf, Gov Adnan al-Zurufi complained al-Sadr had done little to stop his fighters from brandishing their weapons in public or to send home militiamen not from this city – key parts of the agreement he struck with Shiite leaders to end seven weeks of fierce fighting around Najaf and Kufa.
“Unfortunately, there have been no positive initiatives from the office of Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr so far,” al-Zurufi said. “Armed men are filling the streets and there have been a number of attacks on state employees in Kufa.”
Fighters wielding Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenade launchers exchanged fire with US soldiers approaching the centre of Kufa, Najaf’s twin city.
Explosions were heard on Saturday in the centre of Kufa, where al-Sadr’s fighters took up positions in the streets surrounding a mosque. Militiamen also manned checkpoints.
The deal announced on Thursday provides for an end to armed clashes and removal of al-Mahdi militia fighters from the streets. It also calls for discussions between al-Sadr and the Shiite political and clerical hierarchy over the future of the al-Mahdi Army.
In addition, it calls for talks on the status of an arrest warrant charging the young cleric with murder in the April 2003 death of a moderate cleric.
The United States has vowed it would kill or capture him to put an end to his militia, which represents a challenge not only to the coalition but to Shiite leaders cultivated by Washington.
But the agreement makes it unlikely al-Sadr will have to face justice or disband his militia before the Americans return power to the Iraqis on June 30.
The coalition has said it was not a party to the agreement but would suspend offensive operations to give the deal a chance to bring peace to Najaf, revered by Shiite Muslims worldwide.
