Sadr militia shows strength by seizing city

THE Shi’ite militia run by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr seized control of a southern Iraqi city yesterday in one of the boldest acts of defiance yet by the country’s powerful, unofficial armies.

The militiamen later withdrew from the streets of Amarah after Iraqi soldiers and mediators arrived, lifting their siege of police headquarters under a temporary truce negotiated with an al-Sadr envoy. It was not clear if the cleric knew about his militia’s planned takeover in advance.

Meanwhile, US President George W Bush yesterday acknowledged the situation in Iraq was tough and said he would consult with US generals to see if a change in tactics was necessary to combat the escalating violence.

British military spokesman Major Charlie Burbridge said 600 Iraqi army soldiers had retaken control of Amarah but not before the 25 gunmen and police were killed in violence that began Thursday night. The Iraqi army dispatched two companies to Amarah, a city of 750,000, from Basra, the south’s largest city.

“They’ve applied a solution and at the moment it’s holding,” Maj Burbridge said. “At the moment, it’s tense but calm,” he said.

Mahdi Army fighters stormed three main police stations yesterday morning, residents said, planting explosives that flattened the buildings in a city just 30 miles from the Iranian border that was under British command until August, when it was returned to Iraqi government control.

About 800 black-clad militiamen with Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades were patrolling in commandeered police vehicles, witnesses said. Other fighters set up roadblocks on routes into the city and sound trucks circulated telling residents to stay indoors.

The events in Amarah — involving a dispute between the Mahdi Army and local security forces believed to be controlled by the rival Badr Brigade militia — highlight the threat of wider violence between rival Shi’ite factions, who have entrenched themselves among the religious majority and are blamed for killings of rival Sunnis.

Shi’ite militia violence, mainly against the country’s Sunni minority, has ravaged Iraq since February when a Shi’ite mosque in Samara was blown up.