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US Warplanes Rock Najaf, Sadr Defiant
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A
building explodes during a U.S. aerial assault on Najaf
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BAGHDAD,
August 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – US warplanes
attacked southern Najaf on Thursday, August 19, as Shiite leader
Moqtada Al-Sadr rejected a government ultimatum to publicly end
fighting in the holy city.
American
warplanes were seen flying over Najaf, where the Sadr loyalists are
based in Imam Ali Shrine, probably attacking sites in the holy city.
Observers
expressed the attack will cause a number of civilian casualties, as
many residents failed to leave the residential area before the
onslaught.
US
tanks have taken up position just 200 meters (yards) away from Najaf's
Imam Ali shrine, effectively trapping Sadr's men in one of the holiest
sites to Shiite Muslims, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
This
came after Sadr rejected demands by Minister of State Qassim Dawoud
for the Shiite leader himself to sign an agreement refraining from any
future clashes and disarm his militias or face an offensive by Iraqi
forces within hours.
"Either
martyrdom or victory," was Sadr's response, his aide Haidar
Al-Tourfi was quoted by press reports as saying.
Sadr
initially called on Iraqi government to send a delegation to Najaf to
discuss the demands, but Dawoud ruled out any talks after the
government response.
"The
military action has become imminent," Dawoud told reporters.
"If these conditions are not met, then the military solution will
prevail."
More
than two weeks of clashes between Sadr's Mehdi Army and US occupation
forces and Iraqi government forces have reduced the historic Old City
to rubble, with naked wires, spent mortar and rocket shells strewn
across the deserted streets.
Also,
eight people were killed, at least five of them policemen, and 30
wounded when mortar bombs smashed into Najaf, police and a doctor
said, while gunfire and explosions echoed through the city.
Clashes
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"We
will categorically not allow armed militias. This is the final
call to them to disarm, vacate the holy shrine and engage in
political work," said Allawi
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As
intermittent bouts of heavy fighting petered out around the Old City,
interior ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said Sadr's refusal to bow to
government demands meant military action was on.
"Our
position has been constant. Now we hear he's actually refused any
attempt to remove himself and his fighters from the shrine... it looks
as though the fight is on," he told AFP.
Iraqi
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi also sent a strongly-worded message to
Sadr, saying he is still prepared to accept a personal document from
Sadr on a truce.
"We
will categorically not allow armed militias. This is the final call to
them to disarm, vacate the holy shrine and engage in political
work," Allawi told a news conference.
Torching
Oil Wells
Sadr
reacted in defiance, with his followers threatening to torch oil
fields and die as martyrs.
"After
the declarations of the so-called Iraqi minister of state, in the name
of his unjust government ... residents of southern Iraq, mainly in
Basra and Amarah, have bombed several pipelines and are threatening to
torch all the oil wells in the south," said Sheikh Aws
al-Khafagi, head of the Sadr office in the southern city of Nasiriyah.
Allawi
admitted the attacks, saying they inflicted a loss of 160 million
dollars’ worth on his government.
There
was no official confirmation of Khafagi's statements. Previous threats
to oil infrastructure in southern Iraq have caused production to be
halted and pipelines shut down, sending world oil prices soaring.
In
Sadr's northeastern Baghdad stronghold, two US soldiers were killed as
occupation troops pushed into the slums of Sadr City on Wednesday in
an offensive that one officer said killed "slightly over 50
Iraqis".
The
Iraqi health ministry reported 22 people killed and 106 wounded across
the capital in the 24 hours to Thursday morning, based on statistics
from hospitals.
South
of Baghdad, two Polish soldiers were killed and five hurt when their
patrol came under fire at Hilla, where Mehdi Army fighters have also
clashed with Iraqi security forces, the PAP news agency said, quoting
the military.
Kidnappers
claiming to be holding US-based journalist Micah Garen have threatened
to execute their captive unless US forces withdraw from Najaf within
48 hours, Al-Jazeera reported late Wednesday.
A
Turkish TV channel also aired footage of yet another Turk taken
hostage in the country.
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