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| Iraq |
| Iraqi Army begins pullout from Baghdad flashpoint after weekend violence |
| 2009-03-31 |
| The Iraqi Army began pulling back troops from central Baghdad after deadly weekend violence triggered by the arrest of an anti-Al-Qaeda militia leader on suspicion of murder and extortion. "The situation is stable and we have begun to withdraw our troops from the neighborhood" of Fadhil, said Baghdad military command spokesman Major General Qasim Atta. US-backed Iraqi forces clashed with anti-Al-Qaeda militants in Fadhil on Saturday and Sunday and ordered militiamen to hand over weapons after fighting erupted following the arrest of Adel Mashhadani. A local chief of the Sahwa or Awakening Councils of mostly Sunni former insurgents trained and financed by US and Iraqi forces to battle Al-Qaeda, Mashhadani had turned Fadhil into his bastion after clearing it of rebels. "The area is now under the control of the army," Atta said. "We will no longer give the Sahwa any powers in Fadhil. The army will assume control and the Sahwa will be part of the security services," he said. Lieutenant Mohammad Jassem told AFP the militiamen will "no longer be able to carry weapons." Mashhadani was arrested on Saturday by Iraqi Special Forces, triggering clashes with his supporters in the impoverished neighborhood in the historic heartland of Baghdad. Two civilians were killed and 15 other people were wounded in the violence. Iraqi Army reinforcements, backed by US troops, moved Sunday into Fadhil where fighters were ordered to surrender their weapons or face reprisals. US helicopters carried out reconnaissance flights overhead while Iraqi soldiers sealed off the district and carried out identity checks, arresting militiamen who refused to hand in weapons. Residents contacted by telephone on Monday said the army was still blocking access to Fadhil and shops were still closed but calm had returned to the neighborhood. Mashhadani was arrested along with his aide Salman Kadduri over allegations of murder and extortion and for what Atta described as "violating the Constitution." "There are 80 civil suits against him for murder and extortion," Atta said on Sunday. "We also have information that Mashhadani heads the military branch in Fadhil of the [banned] Baath party" of Saddam Hussein, he added. The Sahwa, known as Sons of Iraq by the US military, played a crucial role in driving Al-Qaeda fighters from Baghdad and other areas of Iraq, dramatically reducing levels of violence across the country. The Shiite-led government has said 20 percent of the estimated 100,000 Sahwa would be integrated into the security forces and pledged to provide the others with state jobs or vocational training. But the weekend violence - the worst in Baghdad in nearly a year - has triggered fears of new confrontations between the government and the militia as Sahwa leaders slammed the arrest of Mashhadani. "We are leaders, not normal citizens," said Abu Takwa al-Nedawi, who heads the local Sahwa branch in Baquba, the capital of the restive Diyala Province. He insisted that security forces should have reached an agreement to go and arrest Mashhadani, rather than "attack his home the way they did." "The government must remember that without the Sahwa there would not have been any security in Iraq and that the government would have been unable to eradicate Al-Qaeda." Sheikh Ali Hatam Suleiman, a militia leader from the Anbar Province west of Baghdad, echoed Nedawi. "Why did the government have ties with Mashhadani and why did they make a Sahwa leader out of him if they had something against him?" asked Suleiman. "Arresting him will trigger a climate of mistrust between the government and the Sahwa," he warned. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Sounds like he had set himself up as a crime boss. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-03-31 09:41 |