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U.S., Iraqi forces prepare Najaf assault

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  • U.S., Iraqi forces prepare Najaf assault

    U.S., Iraqi forces prepare Najaf assault

    BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- With U.S. and Iraqi forces preparing for a major assault in Najaf, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged his armed followers to keep up their battle even if he is seized or killed.

    The potential showdown comes after nearly a week of Iraqi and U.S. troops fighting the Medhi Army, which is loyal to al-Sadr. The cleric has many supporters in Baghdad, particularly in the Sadr City neighborhood, and in southern Iraqi cities.

    "Iraqi and U.S. forces are making final preparations as we get ready to finish this fight that the Muqtada militia started," Col. Anthony Haslam, commanding officer of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, said in a statement.

    In a statement Wednesday, al-Sadr was resolute about continuing the battle but thanked those people who he said worked to establish peace in the city.

    Over the weekend, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the the United Nations was "ready to extend its facilitating role to the current crisis." Al-Sadr had said Tuesday that he welcomed the help.

    Still, the violence continued into Wednesday. Over a 24-hour period that ended in the morning, 57 Iraqis in other al-Sadr strongholds were killed in clashes.

    Of those, 29 died in the Meisan province in southeastern Iraq, a Ministry of Health official said. Fourteen people were killed in Baghdad, and 10 died in Diwaniya province. Basra reported four deaths, according to the official, who added 323 Iraqis were wounded.

    On Tuesday, U.S. forces used loudspeakers to urge militants to surrender and residents to evacuate battle zones in the south-central city, which has an estimated population of about a half-million.

    Members of the Mehdi Army militia are holed up in the city's Imam Ali Shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam, and in the Wadi al Salam cemetery.

    U.S. forces are firing back at militia positions in the cemetery but have not stepped foot in the sacred mosque compound.

    U.S. military sources said the military is considering sending Iraqi forces, rather than Americans, into the compound.

    Bomb explodes at market
    Six people were killed Wednesday morning in a market explosion in Diyala province north of Baghdad, an Iraqi Ministry of Health official said.

    Eleven people were wounded in the town of Khan Bani Saad, about 19 miles (30 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, the official said.

    "No policemen or national guards were in al-Dijaj market," a police officer said. "The terrorists want to kill everyone."

    http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/...ain/index.html
    "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

  • #2
    Gotta get this scumbag and his pals.
    No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
    I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
    even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
    He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

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