Shia militia continue to defy Iraq coalition By FT Reporters Published: April 5 2004 8:00 | Last Updated: April 6 2004 16:32
Britain's prime minister Tony Blair pledged on Tuesday that the UK would "hold firm" in its efforts to establish a democratic Iraq, in the face of a continuing confrontation between occupying coalition forces and militia forces of radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
"Our response should not be to run away in fright or hide away or think we have done something wrong," Mr Blair said in London, after a meeting with Iraq's coalition-appointed foreign minister Hoshyar Zedari. "Our reaction must be to hold firm."
In the US, Paul Bremer, the chief US official in Iraq, sought to reassure Americans that the situation there remained "on track", as violence continued in the predominantly Shia towns and cities of southern Iraq.
"We have problems, there's no hiding that, but basically Iraq is on track to realise the kind of Iraq that Iraqis and Americans want, which is a democratic Iraq," Mr Bremer told ABC's "Good Morning America" programme.
He added: "We have got some groups who don't agree with that vision -- they are terrorists and former regime guys. Instead they think power in Iraq should come out of the barrel of a gun and that is intolerable and we will deal with it."
On Tuesday, clashes continued between occupation troops and members of Mr al-Sadr's militias:
In Nasiriya, Italian troops battled Iraqis who had taken position of bridges in the town, with 15 Iraqis reported killed and 12 Italians wounded In Amarah, British troops fought overnight battles which left15 Iraqis dead and eight wounded In Kut, the Ukrainian defence ministry said a Ukrainian soldier died and six were injured in fighting that left two Ukrainian armoured vehicles in flames In Baghdad itself, three more US soldiers were killed in overnight clashes Separately, four marines were killed on Monday in al-Anbar province, west of Baghdad, which includes the Sunni Muslim strongholds of Ramadi and Fallujah. The US Marines have launched a new bid to assert control over Fallujah, imposing a curfew and sealing off roads, and explosions and gunfire were reported from the town overnight.
Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, said the marine operation was aimed at individuals involved in the attack on four US contractors in the city last week. "
"Forces have cordoned off the city. They have photographs of a good many people who were involved in the attacks against the individuals and they have been conducting raids in the city against high-value targets," Mr Rumsfeld told reporters.
"They have captured a number of people over the last 36 hours. The city is isolated. A number of people have resisted and been have killed. It will be a methodical effort to find the individuals who were involved," he added
Meanwhile Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintained his defiance of the occupation authorities in a statement from his headquarters in the holy city of Najaf: "This insurrection shows that the Iraqi people are not satisfied with the occupation and they will not accept oppression", the statement said.
US forces announced on Monday that they would arrest Mr Sadr, on charges related to the murder in April 2003 killing of Abdul Majid al Khoi, a US-backed Shia cleric.
In the US, press reports suggested the US may delay the return of 24,000 troops from Iraq as result of the deterioration in security. There are currently 135,000 US troops in the country. Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, said on Tuesday his commanders "would decide what they need and will get what they need".
Twenty-one US troops have been killed in Iraq over the past three days.