Disarm or face all-out assault, Iraqi PM tells militia

Iraq’s prime minister has told Shiite militiamen to surrender their weapons or face an all-out assault by US troops.

The blunt statement comes amid US President George Bush’s plan to bring violence under control with a more aggressive Iraqi Army and 21,500 additional American troops.

Senior Iraqi officials said Nouri Maliki, under pressure from the US, had agreed to crack down on the fighters even though they were loyal to his most powerful political ally, the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Previously, Maliki had resisted the move.

In a speech carried live at 5am today on Iraqi state television, Bush laid out his new plan to quell violence in and around the Iraqi capital in a televised address to the US. In earlier operations, the president said, “political and sectarian interference prevented Iraqi and American forces from going into neighbourhoods that are home to those fuelling the sectarian violence.

“This time, Iraqi and American forces will have a green light to enter those neighbourhoods. Prime Minister Maliki has pledged that political or sectarian interference will not be tolerated.”

Before Bush spoke, a senior Shiite politician and close Maliki adviser said the prime minister had warned that no militias would be spared in the crackdown.

“The government has told the Sadrists, ‘If we want to build a state we have no other choice but to attack armed groups’,” said the politician, who spoke anonymously.

Bush warned that the US expected Maliki to keep those promises.

“America’s commitment is not open-ended,” Bush said. “If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people.”

Senior officials in radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s group said they would not comment on the speech until their political council met later today.

On Saturday Maliki announced that his government would implement a new security plan for Baghdad, which consists of neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood sweeps by Iraqi forces backed by US troops.

Sunni MP Hussein al-Falluji rejected the plan to increase the number of American troops and warned that would only increase the violence.

“Bush’s plan could be the last attempt to fix the chaos created after the invasion of Iraq. Yet, sending more troops will not end the problem – on the contrary, there will be more bloodshed,” he said.

“I think that the solution would be to set an objective timetable for the withdrawal of the American forces and start direct negotiations with the Iraqi resistance.”

Shiite politician and former MP Mariam al-Rayes noted Democratic opposition to the increase in troops.

“Some consider President Bush an adventurer,” she told the state-run Iraqiya station. “But he has found that his role now is to support this government especially after the government asked for more support and authorities.”

In the past, the Iraqi government has tried to prevent American military operations against the Mahdi Army, while giving US forces a free hand against Sunni militants.

The Bush administration has pushed Maliki, who took office in May, to curb his militia allies or allow US troops to do the job.

Although Maliki withdrew political protection from the Mahdi Army, there was no guarantee the Shiite fighters would be easily routed from the large and growing area of Baghdad under their control.

The militia has more fighters, weapons and sophistication today than it did in 2004, when it fought US forces to a standstill in two strongholds, the Shiite holy city of Najaf and Sadr City, Baghdad’s sprawling Shiite slum.

Sunni militants, meanwhile, have put up fierce resistance in the five days since Maliki announced his new security initiative for Baghdad.