The United States military on Monday night vowed to ”kill or capture” a radical Shia cleric who led an uprising against the occupation authorities, despite warnings that it would unleash yet more violent unrest.
”The mission of US forces is to kill or capture Moqtada al-Sadr,” said Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, America’s most senior general in Iraq. His threat comes despite concerted efforts by leading Iraqi politicians to negotiate a deal between the authorities and Sadr (30) whose forces in the past week have led rebellions in Baghdad and towns across southern Iraq.
The cleric is now holed up in Najaf, near the Imam Ali shrine, one of the holiest sites in the Shia faith. His forces on Monday began to withdraw from parts of Najaf, apparently due to progress in the talks.
”The situation would be disastrous in Najaf if the Americans went in,” said Adnan Hadi al-Asadi, Iraq’s deputy interior minister and a senior figure in the Islamic Dawa, Iraq’s most influential Shia party whose representatives have been mediating between Sadr and Paul Bremer, the US administrator in Iraq, to calm the crisis.
”The people from al-Sadr told us that if Moqtada is caught they would kill everybody in Najaf,” he said. ”If the Americans insist on taking him to court now they will escalate the situation. If they give it time and start negotiating the whole thing will calm down.”
The fresh row over the Shia uprisings comes as the US military struggles to contain the consequences of its ferocious operations further north, in the Sunni city of Falluja. On Monday, the top US commander in the Middle East, John Abizaid, called for at least two more brigades — up to 10 000 troops — to be sent to help quell the upheaval.
Britain and the US are pressing for a new UN resolution which could cede authority for Iraq’s political progress to the international community.
The US state department has been sounding out key countries to broaden the coalition. India, Bangladesh and France have been approached and although none has refused, attempts to recruit new allies have so far been unsuccessful.
The elements of a compromise being discussed in London ahead of Tony Blair’s talks with George Bush at the end of the week involve the international community endorsing the political process in Iraq, recognising the timetable towards elections next year and accepting the interim government’s authority.
In return, the UN would be asked to take the lead political role in Baghdad after July 1, supplanting the coalition authority but having no control over the US, Britain or other foreign military forces in Iraq.
A Downing Street spokesperson on Monday confirmed that one of the issues would be ”how to enhance the role of the UN”. He added: ”A new UN resolution is being discussed … We have always said we would like the coalition to be as broad as possible.”
President Bush, who is to hold a rare news conference this evening likely to be dominated by Iraq, insisted last night: ”The situation in Iraq has improved.”
US commanders admitted yesterday 70 coalition soldiers had died this month, the highest toll since the war last year. Perhaps more than 800 Iraqis have died, mostly in Falluja.
Dozens of foreigners have been kidnapped or killed in the area around the city. Last night, 11 Russians became the latest victims when they were seized in Baghdad, according to al-Jazeera television.
Yesterday Lt Gen Sanchez admitted two US soldiers and seven contractors with US firm in Iraq Kellogg, Brown & Root were missing.
Three Japanese civilians and an American truck driver are still missing, though more than a dozen hostages including seven Chinese were released. Fighting continued west of the capital on Monday, but for the first time in a week there was little conflict in Falluja. US generals want the city’s leaders to hand over those responsible for killing and mutilating four American workers on March 31. – Guardian Unlimited Â