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'We want to end the crisis'
19/08/2004 11:05 - (SA)
Najaf - United States tanks tightened their ring around Shiite militia leader Moqtada Sadr's base in a sacred shrine in Najaf on Thursday as an Iraqi government minister threatened an offensive against his forces "within hours".
"The Iraqi government has laid down conditions that Moqtada Sadr must promise in a press conference not to resort to violence in the future and that the Mehdi Army is to be dissolved," Minister of State Kassem Daoud told a news conference in Najaf.
The fiery cleric must also submit names of all people tried by his religious courts and release all detainees, including Iraqi police, soldiers and national guardsmen, "otherwise the coming hours will be decisive," he added.
"Actions speak louder than words"
"We have been preparing for a military offensive for five days to put an end to this crisis," the minister said.
Intermittent fighting continued on Thursday in the historic heart of the holy city, one day after a spokesperson said Sadr had accepted conditions laid down at a national conference, namely to disarm, leave the Imam Ali shrine and join the political process.
"Really actions speak louder than words. We've made our position very clear that he must leave the shrine and dissolve his army, but still the situation is unchanged," interior ministry spokesperson Sabah Kadhim told AFP.
Confirming on Wednesday that the cleric had "accepted all the conditions extended to him," Sheikh Ahmed al-Shaibani however insisted on a ceasefire for the steps to be implemented.
But there was little evidence of that on the ground on Thursday as Sadr's Mehdi Army fired at US tanks parked just 200m away from the mausoleum, effectively trapping Sadr's men in one of the holiest shrines in Shiite Islam.
"We've had these kind of tricks before and the Iraqi people will not be deceived... If he says he will leave, he should just leave," Kadhim said.
In the United States, national security advisor Condoleezza Rice pressed home the same rhetoric in an interview with CNN television.
"Nobody is taking Sadr at his word. He's someone from whom you have to see action. He said lots of words before. He has never followed through on them.
"I don't think you're going to see an Iraqi government that's going to take his word... He has to be dealt with and I'm quite certain he will be," she said.
A US marine and at least 12 Iraqis were killed during fierce fighting between Sadr's militia and US troops on Wednesday, medics and the military said.
In Sadr's other stronghold on the edge of Baghdad, two US soldiers were killed as troops pushed into the slum of Sadr City on Wednesday in an offensive that one officer said killed "slightly over 50 Iraqis".
The Iraqi health ministry reported 22 people killed and 106 wounded across the capital in the 24 hours to Thursday morning, based on statistics from hospitals.
- AFP
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