General vows to quash militia

2004-04-07 13:16

Baghdad - A US general vowed on Wednesday to destroy the banned Mehdi Army of Shi'ite Muslim radical cleric Moqtada Sadr, which has been combating coalition troops all week.

"We will attack to destroy the Mehdi Army," Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said at a press conference in Baghdad.

"Our offensive operations will be deliberate, they will be precise, and they will be powerful and they will succeed," he pledged.

The Mehdi Army has been combating US-led coalition troops in fierce fighting that left dozens of Iraqis and coalition troops killed and hundreds wounded since Sunday.

"With regard to the (mainly-Shi'ite) southern and central portion of Iraq, as we continue to go against the Mehdi Army, we're getting our foothold into this," said Kimmitt.

"We are now understanding more and more about the Mehdi Army, how they operate, where they operate, against who they operate," he said.

Kimmitt also said Sadr, wanted for the murder of a rival cleric, can only help restore calm in Iraq by turning himself in.

"If Mr Sadr wants to reduce the violence and calm things down, he can do that. He can turn himself in, to a local police station and he can face justice," said Kimmitt.

Despite the US Army being engaged in separate operations against Shi'ite insurgents north of Baghdad and in the south, while launching raids against Sunni insurgents west of the capital, Kimmitt said the coalition was not faced with two fronts."

"In terms of fighting two fronts, I think it is probably a misrepresentation," he said.

In the Sunni bastion of Al-Anbar province, west of Baghdad, the coalition was "working toward restoring civil order... (and it) is going quiet well at this point, on schedule, on target," he said.

- AFP