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Blaming
US, Sadr Vows To Fight 'Najaf Occupation'
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"Those
who are fighting in Najaf are defending Islam, defending religion
and defending the holy city," Sadr said
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Additional
Reporting By Abdul Raheem Ali, IOL Correspondent
NAJAF,
Iraq, August 9 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As intense
fighting continued unabated for the fifth day running in the southern
Iraqi city of Najaf, Shiite firebrand leader Moqtada Sadr Monday,
August 9, insisted the fighting was imposed on his fighters by the US
occupation forces, vowing to fight the occupation of Najaf until his
"last drop of blood".
Sadr
statements came only hours after one of his aides asserted to
IslamOnline.net over the phone that Mehdi Army fighters were only
defending themselves and Iraq's holiest Shiite cities against fierce
attacks by US troops, refuting claims by the US military of massive
casualties among Sadr loyalists.
"I
am an enemy of America and America is my enemy until the day of the
last judgment," Sadr said, during a press conference in Najaf,
rejecting calls Sunday by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi for his
men to lay down their arms and leave the Shiite holy city, reported
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"I
will defend Najaf until my last drop of blood," Sadr told the
press conference in the revered Imam Ali shrine, which has remained a
stronghold of Sadr's Mehdi Army since his spring uprising against
foreign troops in Iraq.
"The
occupiers must go, and then the democratic process can start" in
Iraq," said Sadr. "I will stay here to support the fighters
and I call on all religious dignitaries to do the same."
Sadr
was speaking the day after Allawi told the militia to give up and
leave Najaf on a surprise visit to the city.
He
also rejected an earlier invitation by Allawi to run in elections
scheduled for early next year.
Sadr
said those who wanted to go could do so, he was not forcing anyone to
resist, adding, "Those who have forced us to fight are the
occupiers of our country."
And
he dismissed any participation in politics until Iraq "is free
and independent."
Sadr
further strongly denied that his forces included any foreign fighters
who had infiltrated Iraq and reached Najaf.
"That
is false, those who are fighting in Najaf are defending Islam,
defending religion and defending the holy city," he said.
Calls
On Iraqi Police
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Sadr
fighters rejected Iraq's interim PM call to leave Najaf
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Sadr
further called on the Iraqi police and army not to fight against their
"brothers" and the Baghdad government to be "on the
side of the people and not use the same weapons as Saddam Hussein',
the former dictator ousted by invading US-led forces last year.
"I
would rather see America drop an atomic bomb than a policeman fire one
bullet" on the Shiite militia, he added.
Asked
about negotiations to end the fighting, Sadr demanded, "What
negotiations can there be when the war and bombardments
continue?"
"We
cannot mix democracy and occupation," he said. "Let us
finish with the occupation."
US
Forces Started Fighting
Speaking
to IOL Sunday, Sadr spokesman Hazim Al-A'areji denied press reports
claiming Sadr has called for Jihad against the US occupation forces
all across the war-wracked country, putting the blame for the fierce
fighting in Najaf on the US side.
"Current
clashes came as a result of the US attack that targeted Sadr offices
in Najaf and elsewhere in Iraq. Mehdi Army fighters are only defending
the Iraqi people's sacred places against the US attempts to violate
them," Al-A'areji said.
While
not denying the clashes have been extended to other Iraqi cities, Al-A'areji
dismissed as "fabricated lies" US claims that hundreds of
Sadr fighters were killed during the first two days of clashes, and
alleged surrender of some Sadr fighters to US forces.
"Our
casualties in Najaf are no more than six fighters. Why would any one
who is not a member of a regular army turn himself in? I mean, why not
just go home and stay there?!"
Sadr
spokesman further launched a scathing attack on Allawi, accusing him
of heading an agent government of the occupation and of inciting the
people against Sadr, in an attempt to eradicate him from the Iraqi
political theater.
"We
will not lay down our arms until our country is free. This a war of
liberation that was imposed on us by the occupiers."
Heavy
fighting Monday again rocked Najaf, where clashes between Iraqi
security forces, backed by US marines, and Mehdi militiamen continue
uninterrupted since last Thursday.
Artillery
and tank fire, backed by air power, battered the center of the city.
Mehdi Army fighters were still hunkered down in positions near the
Imam Ali shrine and the vast Najaf cemetery.
Defense
Minister Weighs In
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US
troops seem adamant to finish the bloody standoff once and for all
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Meanwhile,
Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan warned that regular Iraqi army
troops could join in the offensive against Sadr loyalists, which he
alleged included "criminal gangs" and was receiving weapons
from Iran, according to AFP.
"We
will use the multinational forces for air cover as the Iraqi forces
will be enough to crush" the militia, he said in an interview to
be broadcast later Monday on Al-Arabiya television.
"We
have discovered that there are factions and brigades which came from
(the southern cities of) Basra, Nasiriyah, Diwaniyah and Hilla"
to Najaf, he said.
"We
will crush the gangs that are present there as soon as possible in
order to establish stability in the city which has had enough of these
criminals," the minister vowed.
"Undoubtedly,
we will confront them and it will be a tough and solid strike on
them," he told the Dubai-based channel, as per AFP.
Repeating
earlier allegations of interference by Shiite-dominated Iran in Iraq's
affairs, which has sparked a war of words between the two neighbors,
Shaalan said, "Iran has left a fingerprint in Najaf.
"There
are weapons made inside Iran that were found in Najaf in the hands of
these criminals which have received these arms through the Iranian
borders."
Sadr
for his part called Iran a "dear neighbor", but added,
"only God and not Iran gives us the strength to defend
ourselves."
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