Iraq’s rebel Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr vowed on Monday to stay in Najaf ”until the last drop of my blood is spilled” as his militia fought gun battles across the country, including in Basra where a British soldier was killed and fiveothers were wounded.
The soldier died after two military Land Rovers were set alight and al-Sadr’s militiamen fired rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at their patrol.
The Ministry of Defence said British forces were attempting to calm the situation and avoid actions which might lead to an escalation in violence.
”There have been a number of incidents within the British area of operations in and around Basra,” said an MoD spokesperson. ”We regret we can confirm that a British soldier has been killed and there have been a number of other casualties.
”The situation is being brought under control, and whilst we continue to maintain our non-escalatory posture, we use force where necessary in self-defence.”
Fighting also spread to the southern city of Diwaniya, where militia were said to have surrounded the police station. In Sadr City, the eastern slums of Baghdad where al-Sadr’s movement is particularly well supported, the Iraqi government imposed a night-time curfew.
In Najaf the young cleric defied a five-day onslaught by the US military to appear in public for the first time since launching his latest uprising.
As his militia fought in the streets around him, al-Sadr was led into a thickly carpeted room inside the Imam Ali shrine in the heart of the old city. There, before a stylised portrait of his revered father, he committed himself to a bitter fight against the US.
”I am staying in Najaf and I will not leave,” he said. ”I am here as a defender of Najaf. I will stay until the last drop of my blood is spilled.”
In the streets outside, his militia, the Mahdi army, fired RPGs at American positions. US marines returned fire with heavy machine guns.
”I told the Mahdi army they are my brothers,” said the cleric. ”They should call this the honest resistance. We are defending Islam.”
In April the 30-year-old led a series of violent uprisings across southern Iraq, the first time the Shia fought against the occupation.
Eventually he struck a deal with the US military to end the conflict, but last Thursday that truce was broken, and fighting has raged since then in Najaf and elsewhere.
Iraq was forced to stop oil production from its southern oilfields on Monday for the first time since the hand-over of power to Iraqi authorities in June, because of threats to sabotage the Basra-based state Southern Oil Company’s operations.
”Pumping from the southern oilfields to storage tanks at Basra was stopped today [Monday] after threats made by Sadr,” an official told Reuters. ”It will remain stopped until the threat is over.”
The spectre of sabotage sent oil prices on the world’s futures markets to record levels. The cost of Brent crude futures was pushed more than $1 higher to $41,65 and US light crude futures rose to $44,97, prompting fears that rising energy costs could derail global economic recovery.
Al-Sadr has refused to take part in Iraq’s political process, although he appears to be preparing to contest the elections which are due to be held next January.
He said he wanted the Iraqi government put in charge of the US-led multi-national forces. ”When I see the Americans under their command, I will take part in their elections,” he said. ”Now I am the enemy of America from now until judgement day.”
Al-Sadr’s presence in the Najaf shrine on Monday and the position of hundreds of his fighters throughout the old city suggested he remains in a stronger position than the US military has so far admitted. The cleric has ignored several ultimatums to withdraw.
US commanders claim they have killed 360 militiamen, but there is no evidence to sup port this.
Hussein Hadi, the deputy director of Najaf’s main hospital, said on Monday that 23 people had been killed since the fighting started last week and 98 had been injured, mostly civilians. Among the dead were five Iraqi police and four Iraqi army soldiers, he said. The Mahdi army treats its injured away from the hospital.
In Najaf’s main police station officers showed off a room crowded with around 300 Mahdi army prisoners, each sitting cross-legged and facing the wall. In one corner there were several plastic water bottles filled with urine. Before they opened the door the sound of screaming had been coming from inside.
Ghalib al-Jazairy, Najaf’s police chief, admitted several of the captives were policemen from stations in Basra and Amara, who had joined the militia. He said police had arrested 1 200 people in the past week, but half had already been released.
”We have the law on our side and we will find anyone who doesn’t respect the law,” he said.
On Sunday, Jazairy’s uncle, who was also his driver, was kidnapped by the militia and his car was stolen. In the car, the militia found documents written by Jazairy to the interior ministry recommending that Najaf’s water and electricity supply be cut off. He admitted writing them as a ”suggestion” to the ministry.
There was heavy fighting on Monday as the US 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit made a push into the ancient cemetery known as the Valley of Peace, just north of Najaf, but there was no sign of American troops inside the city.
Just a block away from the fighting in the cemetery, half a dozen young militiamen lay resting on fishing nets in a dark, brick basement.
They were a platoon from Khalis, a small Shia town just north of Baghdad, and had arrived in Najaf to fight four months ago. Several wore green silk headbands, signifying their commitment to ”martyrdom”.
Latif al-Khalisi, their leader, spent his life under Saddam Hussein running from military service. He was sentenced to death four times for suspected membership of the Da’awa party, then the leading Shia opposition group. He welcomed the fall of Saddam.
”We had this happiness at the beginning, then the Americans came and they didn’t fulfil anything for us,” he said.
”All the rich people in the west came and started taking money and contracts in this country. The wealthy people in the west didn’t think of the poor people in Iraq.”
Most of Al-Sadr’s support comes from the poor, male, urban working class, and the militiamen complained about the lack of work. Many had been soldiers under Saddam.
”There are three kinds of job you can get now: a guard, a janitor or making sandbags for the American camps,” said Muhammad al-Ajeel.
”And then there’s the new Iraqi army. They are fighting with the Americans and tomorrow they might fight Iran or Syria. How can we join our hands with them?” – Guardian Unlimited Â