Shiite Gunmen Rampage Through Iraq Cities
By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI, Associated Press Writer -- 5/8/04
NAJAF, Iraq - Gunmen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr
rampaged through Basra and another southern Iraq city, attacking British
patrols and
government buildings a day after an al-Sadr aide offered worshippers money
for capturing
or killing (or enslaving) coalition soldiers.
The aide, Sheik Abdul-Sattar al-Bahadli, offered the rewards in response
to the mistreatment and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. guards — a
sign that the abuse scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison was spilling over into
the confrontation
between U.S. troops and al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army militia.
Al-Sadr also pointed to Abu Ghraib in a sermon he delivered at Friday
prayers in Kufa before thousands of worshippers. "What sort of freedom and democracy
can we expect from you (Americans) when you take such joy in torturing Iraqi
prisoners?" al-Sadr said, his shoulders draped with a white coffin shroud
symbolizing his readiness for martyrdom.
Saturday's clashes took place in the cities of Amarah and Basra, the
strongest show of force in the area in days by the al-Mahdi Army — and
perhaps an attempt to raise a diversion while the U.S military intensifies
its crackdown
on al-Sadr in his heartland, the holy Shiite cities of Najaf, Kufa and Karbala.
U.S. forces have been gradually moving against al-Sadr strongpoints in those
cities, and fighting has killed dozens over the past week.
U.S. troops backed by tanks entered Karbala from two directions on Saturday,
blocking roads leading to the Imam Hussein Shrine at the city center. Most
shops in the city were closed, and the streets were empty.
Black-garbed al-Mahdi Army militia were out in force on Basra's streets, exchanging
fire with passing British patrols and sparking skirmishes in several neighborhoods.
A fierce gunbattle broke out in front of the Iraqi Central Bank, and gunmen
seized a key bridge on the main route from the city to points south.
A group of gunmen assaulted the governor's building, and British troops moved
in to reinforce the guards and take control of the building. British armored
vehicles pursued large numbers of gunmen into Basra's impoverished Hanaya neighborhood.
Unable to enter the district's small alleys, the British traded fire with militiamen
firing from behind buildings.
British troops in some 50 vehicles surrounded al-Sadr's headquarters in the
city in an hours-long standoff with militiamen inside. Al-Bahadli led a group
of dozens
of gunmen who took control of a main intersection on the southern side of Basra,
witnesses said.
At least two Iraqis were killed and three British soldiers wounded in the Basra
fighting, a British military spokesman said.
Gunmen attacked a military convoy outside Amarah, lightly wounding two British
soldiers and sparking shootouts in several parts of the city, as helicopter
gunships hovered overhead to provide support. The troops swept briefly into
al-Sadr's
office, witnesses said.
Witnesses reported nine militiamen killed in the fighting, and one child was
killed when his house was struck by a projectile.
Also Saturday, attackers set off a bomb outside the house of a police official
in the town of Habhab, 35 miles north of Baghdad. The blast killed two women
and a man from the official's family, doctors said.
On Friday, al-Bahadli delivered his sermon at Basra's al-Hawi mosque,
telling worshippers that $350 would be given to anyone who captures a British
soldier
and offered $150 for killing one. He also said, "Any Iraqi who takes a
female soldiers can keep her as a slave or gift to himself."
He displayed documents and photos he claimed showed three Iraqi women being
raped at British-run prisons in Iraq and called on supporters to launch jihad,
or holy
war, against British troops in this southern city.
U.S. officials have expressed fears that Iraqi outrage over widely published
photos of Iraqis being stripped and humiliated by their guards at Abu Ghraib
could fuel attacks on American or other coalition soldiers.
The al-Mahdi Army militia led an uprising across the south in early April,
battling with coalition troops and seizing control of government buildings.
But its strength
largely receded in Basra, compared to Najaf, Karbala and Kufa, closer to Baghdad.
The U.S. military has vowed to put down the al-Mahdi Army and capture al-Sadr,
wanted on charges of killing a rival sheik last year, but troops have had to
move carefully, since al-Sadr's fighters are entrenched around the holiest
Shiite shrines in the world.
Still, clashes have intensified over the past week as the military seeks to
hike up the pressure. Fighting in Karbala and Najaf on Friday killed at least
23 Iraqis,
including six members of a family.
"
Yes, yes, to freedom! Yes, yes, to independence," the crowd chanted as al-Sadr
preached at Kufa's mosque. Outside, al-Mahdi Army fighters — at least one
carrying an anti-aircraft gun — milled about the streets in large numbers.
Al-Sadr dismissed apologies from President Bush over the abuse at Abu Ghraib. "I tell this to Bush," al-Sadr said. "Your statements are not enough. They (the guards) must be punished in kind."