Baghdad, Basra boil over with aggression

Baghdad, Basra boil over with aggression Protesters criticize al-Maliki as Bush lauds Iraqi progress BY LEILA FADEL • MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS • March 28, 2008 BAGHDAD, Iraq -- As gun battles raged in the southern port city of Basra, parts of Baghdad and neighboring provinces, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in effect declared war on Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, saying he would fight the militia "to the end" and never negotiate. In Ohio on Thursday, President George W. Bush praised al-Maliki's bold decision to confront the militias and said it was evidence the Iraqi military is increasingly confident and able to act on its own. But three days into a U.S.-backed Iraqi offensive, the Mahdi Army retained control of key Basra neighborhoods. In Baghdad, attacks on the Green Zone intensified. The State Department confirmed that a U.S. citizen was killed by the rocket and mortar fire that has pummeled the area, where the Iraqi and U.S. governments are housed. The U.S. Embassy sent a memo to staffers saying they are required to wear helmets and other protective gear if they must venture outside, and it strongly advises them to sleep in blast-resistant spots. At least 189 people have been killed in the Basra offensive, neighboring provinces and Baghdad since early Tuesday, government health and security officials said. Of these, 97 were killed and 300 injured in Basra, health officials said. In an attempt to curb the violence, Iraq's military ordered vehicles and pedestrians off the streets of the capital until Sunday morning. In Basra and in Baghdad's Sadr City, hundreds of people took to the streets in antigovernment protests, calling al-Maliki a dictator and condemning the United States and Abdul Aziz al Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council. In Sadr City, the demonstrators carried a red coffin with a depiction of al-Maliki's face on the side. A black X was marked over the face and "The New Dictator" was written under his visage. The protesters burned American flags with depictions of his face on them. For the first time since he launched the offensive, al-Maliki spoke on government television, referring to a "political entity" that chose to stand up to the government. He issued a weekend deadline for the surrender of Mahdi Army militiamen loyal to al-Sadr. Also Thursday, saboteurs bombed one of Iraq's two main oil export pipelines that carries crude oil from Basra to the country's oil terminal on the Persian Gulf. The attack briefly sent prices rising on international petroleum markets. In Baghdad, gunmen kidnapped the Iraqi civilian spokesman for the Baghdad security operation and killed three of his bodyguards after torching his house in a Shi'ite neighborhood.