Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed on Saturday to continue a military assault on Shiite fighters in Basra, saying the gunmen were worse than Al-Qaeda militants. "Our determination is strong. We will not leave Basra until security is restored, those who break the law are punished and those who draw their weapons in the face of the state are punished," he said in a statement broadcast by Al-Iraqiya state television.Maliki said the Shiite gunmen were worse than Al-Qaeda militants. "Unfortunately we were talking about Al-Qaeda but there are some among us who are worse than Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is killing innocents, Al-Qaeda is destroying establishments and they (Shiite gunemen) also," he said. "Al-Qaeda wants to see that the political process fails and they are planning" the same thing. "We are facing another danger which is in our midst," he said, referring to the Shiite gunmen.
US and Iraqi officials claim that most of the violence in Iraq by way of car bombs, road bombs and shoot-outs is the work of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the local affiliate of Osama bin Laden's global jihadist group.
Maliki's latest salvo came just hours after radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers to reject the premier's call to surrender their arms.
On Friday, a 72-hour ultimatum by Maliki for Shiite fighters in Basra to lay down their arms expired. The premier then announced an April 8 deadline for all people in Basra to turn in medium and heavy weapons in exchange for money.
Maliki is personally overseeing the crackdown in Basra which to date has killed at least 50 people and wounded an estimated 300.