US troops kill 11 Mahdi breakaways

27/12/2007| IslamWeb

U.S. military forces killed 11 members of a Mahdi Army splinter group southeast of Baghdad early Thursday, American officials said. The raids were the deadliest against breakaway members of the militia in months.

It was not immediately clear if the action would impact a six-month freeze on activities that the militia's leader — radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr — called in August and has signaled in the past week he might extend.

In the past, al-Sadr has said that any Mahdi Army members who do not abide by his freeze would no longer be considered members of the militia. But he also has indicated that his fighters have the right to defend themselves if attacked by U.S. forces.

Al-Sadr's order to halt activities has been credited by American commanders as one reason violence in Iraq has fallen dramatically in the past six months. However, it is unclear how much control al-Sadr maintains over his fighters as groups have splintered from the main movement.

Meanwhile, a proposed amnesty bill for a portion of prisoners being held in Iraq's prisons came under criticism from a Sunni lawmaker, who said the matter should be left to the judicial system and that the bill would likely be shelved in parliament.

Thursday's fighting took place in the early morning hours in Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, a local police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

The officer said eight militia members were killed; the U.S. military said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that it killed an "estimated" 11 fighters. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.

In a later statement, the U.S. military said the operation was targeting a suspect who was "reportedly responsible for attacks against Coalition forces."

Troops approaching the target were fired at with assault rifles and rocket propelled grenade, the military said. They then called in support aircraft. The local police official said at least two U.S. helicopters were used in the attack, along with an unknown number of fighter jets.

The military said no suspects were detained during the raid and no U.S. troops were killed or injured in the operation.

U.S. commanders have in the past said they would not stop targeting splinter elements of the Mahdi Army that they said continue to operate, despite al-Sadr's order.

In early October, U.S. forces killed 25 Shiite militia fighters in Khalis, north of Baghdad, who were believed to be part of a Mahdi Army splinter group.

Iraq's Cabinet on Wednesday approved a draft of a general amnesty bill for detainees being held in Iraqi prisons, a measure that could go a long way toward reconciling Iraq's warring sects and factions.

But the measure will not be brought to parliament for debate until March at the earliest, said Sami al-Askari, a key adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Many key draft laws — including measures to share oil revenue and to allow some members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to hold government jobs — have remained mired for months in Iraq's gridlocked parliament.

On Thursday, Sunni lawmaker Asmaa Adnan al-Dulaimi of the Iraq Accordance Front, the three-party alliance that has 44 parliamentary seats, told the AP that the law "will hinder the release of many innocents" as it will encounter endless debate in parliament.

"The best thing is to leave this issue to the judicial system because it is the only side who can decide who is innocent and who is not," she said. "The judicial system should review the inmates' files carefully and immediately in order to have them freed and not stranded by the long political discussions."

Al-Askari, who is a parliament member, said the amnesty would not cover those convicted of terrorism, corruption, crimes against humanity and kidnapping.

The draft also will not involve prisoners being held by American forces, said Sadiq al-Rikabi, another al-Maliki adviser.

Both the Iraqi government and the U.S. military each hold more than 20,000 prisoners detained since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

It was not clear how many prisoners might be affected by the proposed ban. Al-Askari estimated that "80 percent of those held in Iraqi prisons are there for terrorist crimes, therefore the amnesty would be for a limited number."

PHOTO CAPTION 

Map locates Kut, Iraq, where U.S. troops targeted Mahdi militia, killing 11.

AP