2008 Woodie Awards
Violence, government tensions continue to escalate in Basra
By: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: World
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb struck an armored vehicle carrying an Iraqi commander and a senior defense official yesterday as they entered a Shiite militia stronghold that has seen some of the fiercest fighting in the southern city of Basra.
Nobody was hurt in the blast, said Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari, who was in the vehicle. But an Iraqi cameraman for U.S.-funded Alhurra TV was shot and wounded in a separate attack as he filmed a show of force by Iraqi troops in the oil-rich city.
The government forces did not face the widespread resistance of recent days as they moved toward the sprawling Hayaniyah district in central Basra and drove through the main streets. But the violence underscored the tenuous nature of the peace that emerged from a cease-fire largely ending a week of clashes between the government and cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
Mahdi Army officials in Basra said they tolerated the government move in compliance with the Iranian-brokered deal between the radical Shiite cleric and the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who had promised a "final and decisive battle."
The militia warned, however, that it would fight back if security forces resumed large-scale raids and arrests without warrants.
A Mahdi Army spokesman known as Abu Liqa al-Basri said Iraqi forces raided some houses in Hayaniyah, then withdrew to a single main street.
He said people were moving freely in the sprawling area and gunmen were keeping a low profile. But he accused the Iraqi security forces of creating a "crisis of trust" by violating al-Maliki's order not to detain people without warrants.
"Al-Maliki's orders are the safety valve," he said. "If the Iraqi army continues in its provocative raids, the consequences will be bad."
The roadside bomb exploded under the Humvee carrying Lt. Gen. Mohan al-Fireji, who heads the joint Iraqi army-police forces in the area.
The vehicle was leading a convoy into Hayaniyah at about 9:30 a.m., with troops firing their weapons into the air to clear traffic.
Nobody was hurt in the blast, said Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari, who was in the vehicle. But an Iraqi cameraman for U.S.-funded Alhurra TV was shot and wounded in a separate attack as he filmed a show of force by Iraqi troops in the oil-rich city.
The government forces did not face the widespread resistance of recent days as they moved toward the sprawling Hayaniyah district in central Basra and drove through the main streets. But the violence underscored the tenuous nature of the peace that emerged from a cease-fire largely ending a week of clashes between the government and cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
Mahdi Army officials in Basra said they tolerated the government move in compliance with the Iranian-brokered deal between the radical Shiite cleric and the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who had promised a "final and decisive battle."
The militia warned, however, that it would fight back if security forces resumed large-scale raids and arrests without warrants.
A Mahdi Army spokesman known as Abu Liqa al-Basri said Iraqi forces raided some houses in Hayaniyah, then withdrew to a single main street.
He said people were moving freely in the sprawling area and gunmen were keeping a low profile. But he accused the Iraqi security forces of creating a "crisis of trust" by violating al-Maliki's order not to detain people without warrants.
"Al-Maliki's orders are the safety valve," he said. "If the Iraqi army continues in its provocative raids, the consequences will be bad."
The roadside bomb exploded under the Humvee carrying Lt. Gen. Mohan al-Fireji, who heads the joint Iraqi army-police forces in the area.
The vehicle was leading a convoy into Hayaniyah at about 9:30 a.m., with troops firing their weapons into the air to clear traffic.
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