Accused car bomber wants to 'drive out occupiers'

Wisam Younis’ sole ambition in life, he said, is to kill Americans. So he expressed surprise when he discovered that his car bomb had killed eight Iraqis and wounded more than 80 outside a Baghdad restaurant.

Younis and brothers Badr and Yassin Shakir are charged with murder and face the death penalty for the May 23 attack.

“Our doctrine is to wage jihad against the Americans,” Younis, wearing a stained beige traditional robe, said as police stood over him. ”Driving out the occupiers is the demand of all Iraqis… I wish to die in the battlefield instead of prison.”

Meanwhile, Iraqi authorities are preparing for what a US general described as “a very large operation” involving more than 40,000 Iraqi police and soldiers backed by American troops and air support.

Operation Lightning has received planning and logistical support from US troops who are keen to train and equip Iraqi security forces so they can eventually take over security in the capital.

“This is a significant move by the Iraqi leadership. It is a transition from a defensive posture to an offensive posture. It is raising the profile of the Iraqi security forces in pursuit of attacking terrorism in Baghdad,” said US Air Force Brig Gen Don Alston.

It was unclear why Defence and Interior Ministers Bayan Jabr and Saadoun al-Duleimi chose to announce the operation before it fully got under way - making it known to the insurgents it was designed to capture.

Operation Lightning aims to single out attackers such as the three men who police said confessed to bombing the Habayibna restaurant in a predominantly Shiite neighbourhood. The bomb exploded at lunchtime when police officers usually gather at the restaurant.

“Since April 18, we have had more than 600 civilians killed, many of them specifically targeted. Bombs are going off near elementary schools. This is wanton. They have declared war on the civilian population of Iraq,” Alston said of the insurgents.

The violence, mostly targeting Iraqi security forces and Shiites, also has led to an increase in sectarian tensions. Sunni Muslims who dominated under Saddam’s regime are thought to make up the core of the insurgency.