Iraqis inspect destruction in their neighborhood in the southern city of Basra on March 28, 2008, following fierce battles between Shiite fighters and the Iraqi army. AFP PHOTO/ESSAM AL-SUDANI
Check back daily for news reports, analysis, humanitarian updates, video, and dispatches from Iraqi bloggers.
THE TIMELINE:
DAY SIX (Sunday, March 30):
Sadr orders fighters to stand down, Al Jazeera "Muqtada al-Sadr, an Iraqi Shia leader, has ordered his fighters to withdraw from the streets of several provinces, six days after Iraqi forces mounted a crackdown against Shia armed groups.
"'We want the Iraqi people to stop this bloodshed and maintain Iraq's independence and stability,' al-Sadr said in a statement released on Sunday.
"'For that we have decided to withdraw [al-Sadr's Mahdi Army] from the streets of Basra and all other provinces.'
"At least 270 people have reportedly died since an Iraqi military crackdown in Basra sparked fighting across the country." U.S. says special forces fight in Basra, Reuters
"A U.S. military statement described a joint raid by Iraqi and U.S. special forces units which killed 22 suspected militants, including '16 criminal fighters' strafed in an air strike on three houses."
British and US forces drawn into battle for Basra, Patrick Cockburn, The Independent
"The US is facing a new crisis in Iraq that may determine the outcome of the
presidential election, as American military forces are drawn into supporting
the Iraqi government's faltering attempt to crush the main Shia militia.
"A US warplane strafed a house in Basra killing eight civilians, including two
women and a child, Iraqi police said yesterday. The house was in the city's
Hananiyah district, which is a stronghold of the Mehdi Army militia of the
Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
"British forces became directly involved in the battle yesterday after
artillery in the British headquarters at Basra airport fired on a mortar
crew in the city. Previously, the British Army had limited itself to
providing logistical and air support for the assault on the militia."
40 Iraqi police hand over weapons to radical cleric's office, Associated Press "...some 40 policemen in Sadr City handed over their weapons to militant
radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's local office, one of the
policemen told The Associated Press today.
"'We can't fight our brothers in the Mahdi Army, so we came here to
submit our weapons,' the policeman said on condition of anonymity for
security reasons.
"The police in Sadr City have long been believed heavily influenced or infiltrated by Mahdi militiamen.
"AP Television News footage showed a group of about a dozen uniformed
police, their faces covered with masks to shield their identity, being
met by Sheik Salman al-Feraiji, al-Sadr's chief representative in Sadr
City.
"Al-Feraiji greeted each policeman and gave them a copy of the Quran
and an olive branch as they handed over their guns and ammunition."
DAY FIVE (Saturday, March 29):
Al-Sadr: I Am in Control of Militia, Associated Press
"Al-Sadr alleged that the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a fellow Shiite, was as 'distant' from the people of Iraq as Saddam's Sunni-led regime."
DAY FOUR (Friday, March 28):
Stalled assault on Basra exposes the Iraqi government's shaky authority, Patrick Cockburn, The Independent
"The Iraqi army's offensive against the Shia militia of the radical
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Basra is failing to make significant headway
despite a pledge by the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to fight 'to the end'.
"Instead of being a show of strength, the government's stalled
assault is demonstrating its shaky authority over much of Baghdad and
southern Iraq. As the situation spins out of Mr. Maliki's control,
saboteurs blew up one of the two main oil export pipelines near Basra,
cutting by a third crude exports from the oilfields around the city.
The international price of oil jumped immediately by $1 a barrel before
falling back.
"In Baghdad, tens of thousands of supporters of Mr.
Sadr, whose base of support is the Shia poor, marched through the
streets shouting slogans demanding that Mr. Maliki's government be
overthrown."
U.S. forces drawn deeper into Iraq clashes, MSNBC
"U.S. forces were drawn deeper into Iraq's four
day-old crackdown on Shiite militants on Friday, launching air strikes
in Basra for the first time and battling militants in Baghdad.
"President
Bush said the resurgent violence would not alter his determination to
continue his administration's mission there. Bush said the deadly
flare-ups presented 'a defining moment in the history of Iraq' as the
government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki seeks to root out Shiite
militants.
"'It's going to
take awhile, but it's a necessary part of the development of a free
society,' Bush said at a White House news conference with Australian
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. At the same time, the president said the
situation in Iraq remains 'dangerous and fragile.'"
DAY THREE (Thursday, March 27):
Iraq explodes as Shia fights Shia, Patrick Cockburn, The Independent
"A new civil war is threatening to explode in Iraq as American-backed
Iraqi government forces fight Shia militiamen for control of Basra and
parts of Baghdad.
"Heavy fighting engulfed Iraq's two largest cities and spread to
other towns yesterday as the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki,
gave fighters of the Mehdi Army, led by the radical cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr, 72 hours to surrender their weapons.
"The gun battles
between soldiers and militiamen, who are all Shia Muslims, show that
Iraq's majority Shia community – which replaced Saddam Hussein's Sunni
regime – is splitting apart for the first time."
DAY TWO (Wednesday, March 26):
Sadr orders Iraqi PM out of Basra, Telegraph
"Mr. Maliki gave followers of Sadr and other Shi'ite
gunmen 72 hours to surrender their weapons and renounce violence or
bear the brunt of a military crackdown.
'We are not going to chase those who hand over
their weapons within 72 hours,' said Mr Maliki. 'If they do not
surrender their arms, the law will follow its course.'"
DAY ONE (Tuesday, March 25):
Sadr militia battles troops in four Iraqi cities, AFP
"Heavy clashes broke out between Sadr's Mahdi Army fighters in the southern oil city of Basra, killing at least seven people and wounding 48, and in Kut and Hilla, both south of Baghdad, officials said.
"As evening fell, Mahdi Army fighters fought with Iraqi and US forces in their Sadr City bastion in eastern Baghdad for the first time since last October, a security official and witnesses told AFP.
"Troops had surrounded the sprawling impoverished neighborhood of two
million people and armed Shiite fighters were roaming the streets, a
witness said.
"The fighting, which severely strains a ceasefire declared by Sadr in
late August and renewed last month, prompted the cleric to issue a
stern warning that he would launch protests and a nationwide strike if
attacks against his movement and 'poor people' are not halted."
VIDEO
Iraqi soldiers turn in weapons to Sadr offices in Sadr City
Moqtada al-Sadr makes his first public appearance in 10 months
Raw footage from a Basra street
Al Jazeera looks analyzes the violence
HUMANITARIAN REPORTS
Curfews and clashes cripple Baghdad, Basra, IRIN (March 30)
"The government must find ways to confront militants without violating civilians' human rights. These military operations have added more to Iraqis' daily suffering with shortages of drinking water, food and medicines," said Basil al-Azawi, head of the Iraqi Commission for Civil Society Enterprises.
Humanitarian situation set to worsen as violence hits south, International Organization on Migration (March 29)
"...with the potable water network down in most parts of Basra as well as electricity being shut down, priority needs of the population is water, food and medical supplies for hospitals with the situation expected to deteriorate in the coming days. The suddenness of the crackdown had meant little to no time for people to stock up on essentials."
Humanitarian situation deteriorates in Basra, IRIN (March 29)
"The humanitarian situation is getting worse by the minute--not the hour or the day," says Salih Hmoud, head of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society's office in Basra. "Shootings, explosions and roadside bombs are preventing our teams from getting out and reaching people in need of our humanitarian aid, and we can no longer reach government hospitals to supply them."
"Pressing need" for drinking water in Basra as curfew bites, IRIN (March 26)
"All aspects of life have been paralysed with the closure of schools, government offices and markets due to clashes that have forced people indoors with not enough food as there was no prior notice for this operation," said Mahdi al-Tamimi, head of the city's Human Rights Office.
ANALYSIS
In Iraq, U.S. caught in middle of Shiite rivalry, LA Times (March 30)
"The biggest surprise about the raging battles that erupted last week in southern Iraq was not that the combatants were fellow Shiites, but that it took this long.
"Enmity has long festered between the two sides: one a ruling party that has struggled against the widespread perception that it gained power on the back of the U.S. occupation, the other a populist movement that has positioned itself as a critic of the U.S.-backed new order."
Sadrists open New fronts throughout Shiite South, by Juan Cole, Informed Comment (March 29)
"The Iraqi security forces haven't even begun to take key Mahdi Army territory in Basra, and in fact have been rebuffed. The Mahdi Army claims to have captured heavy arms and even Iraqi soldiers from the government. The minister of defense admits that Baghdad was surprised at the level of resistance to the campaign. (After the spring of 2004? Why?) The British contingent of 4,000 troops out at the airport is not getting involved, raising questions as to what they are doing there."
Mahdi Army Stands Firm in its Basra Neighborhoods, Juan Cole, Informed Comment (March 28)
"People are asking me the significance of the fighting going on in Basra and elsewhere. My reading is that the US faced a dilemma in Iraq. It needed to have new provincial elections in an attempt to mollify the Sunni Arabs, especially in Sunni-majority provinces like Diyala, which has nevertheless been ruled by the Shiite Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. But if they have provincial elections, their chief ally, the Islamic Supreme Council, might well lose southern provinces to the Sadr Movement. In turn, the Sadrists are demanding a timetable for US withdrawal, whereas ISCI wants US troops to remain. So the setting of October, 2008, as the date for provincial elections provoked this crisis. I think Cheney probably told ISCI and Prime Minister al-Maliki that the way to fix this problem and forestall the Sadrists coming to power in Iraq, was to destroy the Mahdi Army, the Sadrists' paramilitary. Without that coercive power, the Sadrists might not remain so important, is probably their thinking. I believe them to be wrong, and suspect that if the elections are fair, the Sadrists will sweep to power and may even get a sympathy vote. It is admittedly a big 'if.'"
The Enigmatic Second Battle of Basra, by Reidar Visser (March 27)
"On the surface, the story may look plausible enough," writes Reidar
Visser, author of Basra: The Failed Gulf State. "A provincial city rich
in oil degenerates into mafia-style conditions affecting the security
of citizens as well as the national oil revenue; the central government
intervenes to clean up. Still, there are probably few spots on this
planet where the search for mono-causality is more futile than Basra."
The landscape of broken lenses, by Noah Baker Merrill, Electronic Iraq (March 26)
"What the news reports don't mention is that the same parties directing the 'security operations' against rival parties' militias in Basra, Baghdad, and the rest of the South are one side of the power struggles that have been ongoing in Basra and elsewhere for years. Their militias are not being targeted with this security offensive. In fact, that would be nonsensical, because their members are actively involved in the offensive, wearing their Iraqi army uniforms."
IRAQI BLOGGERS
El-Basrah, by Zappy Corleone (March 29)
"I don’t think I have mentioned that I was born and lived my early life in Basrah..."
Understanding Muqtada, by Abbas Hawazin (March 29)
"...the government has long followed a policy of Chamberlainian appeasement toward the powerful Muqtada al-Sadr and his movement, who has far more street cred than them, as I expected, this 'moment of truth' isn't going to be any different, after Maliki gave them a 72-hour ultimatum, he extended it to 10-days, also tagged with the usual last-hope when you can't do much else, similar to what the Americans done with the insurgency, luring them with money. Hardly the show of force you'd expect from a legitimate, confident Iraqi government."
