Fighting in Iraqi militia strongholds
Military sources: At least 17 militia members dead
 |  Armed Iraqi fighters take up positions Thursday in the center of Najaf. |
| VIDEO |
 U.S. forces traded fire with the militia of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the Muslim holy city of Najaf.
 Announcing the casualty count of the enemy in Iraq could have both advantages and disadvantages.
 Urban warfare erupts as U.S. soldiers take on al-Sadr loyalists in Najaf.
|
|
NAJAF, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. troops and Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army fought bitterly on the Muslim holy day, trading fire in the radical cleric's power centers of Najaf and Karbala, despite ongoing peace negotiations.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said that in Najaf, the main police station and two tanks came under fire. Insurgents used small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.
Some fire came from an amusement park. And ground troops killed insurgents inside a cemetery.
"You had terrorist forces inside that cemetery firing at these Iraqi police stations ... using mortars from that location to try to kill Iraqi police ..." Kimmitt said. "We sent coalition forces against that cemetery to try to stop those rocket-propelled grenades and mortars."
U.S. military sources Friday said 17 Mehdi Army militia members have been killed in fighting in the holy city.
Also, sources at Al Hakim Hospital in Najaf reported eight dead, including two militia members and six civilians, and 21 injured, including an Afghan.
There were reports that the Shrine of Imam Ali of Najaf was damaged in the fighting, but Kimmitt said if anyone desecrated the site, it was probably al-Sadr forces, who did not respect "red lines" set up by the clergy to avoid attacks on holy sites.
"It is clear what is going on. Muqtada's militia is attempting to use those red lines and use those religious shrines much like human shields. He is hiding behind those, fully understanding that we will treat it with respect and they will not treat it with respect," Kimmitt said.
In Karbala, overnight battles killed three Iraqis and wounded 13 others, a hospital official told CNN Friday.
"We continue to expand our influence throughout the southern part of Iraq, the idea being to continue to set the conditions for a political solution," said Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the commander of the First Armored Division.
"If we sit back and allow the Muqtada militia to have its way, then there's no incentive for them to find a peaceful solution. So, we're trying to encourage them along."
Along with the southern Iraq fighting, other dramatic developments are unfolding in Iraq.
The top U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, told Iraqi provincial officials that the United States would leave Iraq if the government in power after sovereignty asked them to -- but he indicated that such a request would be implausible.
Authorities freed 293 prisoners from Abu Ghraib, the first mass prisoner release since images of abuse at the hands of the U.S. military surfaced several weeks ago. (Full story)
It comes a day after an unannounced visit to the prison by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who is at the center of the firestorm over the abuse scandal. Seven U.S. soldiers have been charged in connection with the case.
Also, two Marines died Thursday, bringing the total of U.S. troop deaths to 781 since the war began. One died Thursday in a non-hostile incident and another was killed during combat in Al Anbar province.
As for Najaf, all those killed and detained were at the firefight just outside of the cemetery.
On Friday, al-Sadr delivered his weekly sermon in Kufa mosque, urging citizens not to cooperate with the coalition.
Dempsey, noting that al-Sadr is wanted by Iraqi authorities in connection with the killing of a rival cleric, said, "If we encounter him, we do have instructions to capture him."
The Najaf fighting came on a day that was originally slated for a demonstration aimed at showing the unity of Iraqis in Najaf. It was canceled because of fears that it could spark violence.
There have been hopes for a negotiated settlement.
Fliers were handed out in the streets of Najaf on Thursday and affixed to walls, outlining an agreement between al-Sadr and other groups.
The fliers said all parties, including al-Sadr's forces, agreed to end armed militias, dissolve the Mehdi Army and turn it into a political party, develop a security force that would include the Mehdi Army, turn over government buildings and postpone the trial of al-Sadr.
The streets of Najaf are normally bustling as pilgrims flock to Shiite holy sites, but the fighting has most businesses shuttered.
Paul Bremer, the top U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, told officials from Iraq's Diyala province that the United States would depart the country if the government that takes power when sovereignty is returned June 30 made the request.
However, he said, he doubts that would occur.
"If the provisional government asks us to leave, we will leave," Bremer said. "I don't think that will happen, but obviously we don't stay in countries where we're not welcome.
"I think almost all Iraqis recognize that there is a real need to reconstruct the Iraqi security forces and make them capable of dealing with the threat from the Saddamists and the terrorists and we will not be at that point on June 30th. So it's a hypothetical question."
Dan Senor, a Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman and an aide to Bremer, told CNN Friday there is an "overwhelming majority of Iraqis" who want a U.S. security presence after sovereignty.
"The overwhelming majority of Iraqis recognize there will be a significant terrorist threat in this country after June 30th and their own Iraqi security forces won't number a position to defend against that threat on their own."
Other developments
U.S. Army Cpl. Charles Graner has been added to the courts-martial arraignments scheduled for May 20, joining two other soldiers charged in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, a senior coalition military official said Friday. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier late Thursday said his country may help in Iraq's reconstruction, but ruled out sending any French forces to the country. Barnier said France would only consider helping Iraq rebuild at the request of a new Iraqi government. The Polish-led command said Thursday that weapons, ammunition, weapons systems and electronic devices were seized from Karbala's Mukhayem mosque and shrine complex, the site of a cordon and search operation that began late Tuesday.CNN's Jane Arraf and Ben Wedeman contributed to this report.
