[Marxism] Iraq PM proclaims Basra assaults a 'success'

[Mike Friedman]

Iraq PM proclaims Basra assaults a 'success'

by Salam Faraj Tue Apr 1, 2:36 PM ET

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Tuesday that a
crackdown on Shiite militiamen in Basra was a success and that 10,000
extra troops would be recruited to keep order in the southern oil hub.
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His statement came as officials said the toll from a military assault the
premier ordered on Shiite militias a week ago had helped propel the March
tally of Iraqis killed to 1,082, the highest monthly total since August.

Figures obtained by AFP from the interior, defence and health ministries
showed that 925 civilians, 54 soldiers and 103 policemen were killed -- up
50 percent on February's figure of 721.

Of the Iraqis killed, around 460 were casualties of a week of bitter
fighting between Iraqi forces and the Mahdi Army militia of Shiite cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr which began in Basra but quickly spread to other Shiite
areas of central and southern Iraq and to Baghdad.

Maliki said he had decided to implement a seven-point programme in Basra
following "the stability and success of the security plan which achieved
the aim of imposing law in the city and restoring normalcy."

The new plan includes boosting security forces in Basra by recruiting
10,000 new troops, restoring services, imposing a strict check on vehicles
without licences, building new houses for the poor and turning
government-owned palaces into tourist destinations.

Later Tuesday Maliki returned to Baghdad after personally spearheading the
assaults in Basra.

[...]

Earlier Tuesday, Maliki had ordered security forces to stop raiding and
arresting Shiite militiamen randomly but said they should "deal strongly
with any groups carrying arms in public".

Harith al-Athari, chief of Sadr's office in Basra, said the militiamen
were being "exposed to random arrests and raids, houses of the members
were being burned. This is in violation of what has been agreed upon."

Sadr hailed the Mahdi Army for resisting the Iraqi security forces during
the fighting.

"I greet you and thank you for facing the difficulties, being patient,
obedient, supportive of each other, defending your land, people and
honour," Sadr said in a statement released by his office in the shrine
city of Najaf late Monday.

[...]