Iraqi PM gives Basra gunmen ultimatum
Middle East Desk Report

BAGHDAD—Iraq’s prime minister on Wednesday gave gunmen in the southern oil port of Basra three days to surrender their weapons and renounce violence as clashes between security forces and Shiite militia fighters erupted for a second day.
Suspected Shiite extremists also unleashed rockets or mortars against the U.S.-protected Green Zone in central Baghdad for the third day this week. Three Americans were seriously injured in the attacks, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said. At least eight Iraqis also were killed after rounds fell short in several areas of Baghdad.
At least 55 people have been killed and 300 wounded in Basra and Baghdad after the fighting spread to the capital’s main Shiite district of Sadr City, police and hospital officials said. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was in Basra to supervise a crackdown against the spiraling violence between militia factions vying for control of the center of the country’s vast oil industry located near the Iranian border.
The violence has raised fears that the cease-fire declared in August by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr could unravel, presenting the gravest challenge to the Iraqi government in months.
Sadiq al-Rikabi, a chief adviser to al-Maliki, said gunmen who fail to turn over their weapons to police stations in Basra by Friday will be targeted for arrest. He said they also must sign a pledge renouncing violence. “Any gunman who does not do that within these three days will be an outlaw,” he said.
A resumption of intense fighting by al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia could kill more U.S. soldiers and threaten — at least in the short run — the security gains Washington has hailed as a sign that Iraq is on the road to recovery.
Officials in al-Sadr’s headquarters in Najaf, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the anti-U.S. cleric had sent local representatives to ask al-Maliki to leave Basra and resolve the problems peacefully. The aides also told the government no negotiations could be held until Iraqi reinforcements withdrew from the city.
The burgeoning crisis — part of an intense power struggle among Shiite political factions — will test the skill and resolve of Iraq’s Shiite-led government in dealing with Shiite militias, which have close ties with the national leadership. The Sadrists are angry over recent raids and detentions, saying U.S. and Iraqi forces have taken advantage of the cease-fire to crack down on the movement.
They have accused rival Shiite parties, which control Iraqi security forces, of engineering the arrests to prevent them from mounting an effective election campaign. The showdown with al-Sadr has been brewing for months but has accelerated since parliament agreed in February to hold provincial elections by the fall.
U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner insisted the Sadrists were not being singled out and blamed Iranian-backed rogue militia factions for the recent violence, although he declined to link Iran directly to the fighting.
Bergner also noted the Iraqi government was taking the lead in the Basra operation, although U.S. troops were involved as members of transition teams helping train the Iraqis.
He said the Iraqi government had appealed to Iran to help restore calm in Basra. “This is not a battle against the (Mahdi Army) nor is it a proxy war between the United States and Iran,” he said. “It is the government of Iraq taking the necessary action to deal with criminals on the streets.”
The White House welcomed al-Maliki’s actions in Basra. “This is exactly what we all want to see, which is the government of Iraq taking the initiative that was afforded to it by the surge and going aggressively after illegal criminal gangs and illegal militias in the Basra region,” said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.