[Marxism] Al-Sadr militia drives Italian troops from Nasiriya base

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Further down, this story mentions that the former general now in charge
of policing Fallujah, who faces growing US pressure to take action
against rebels there, reportedly made a pitch for collaboration with the
occupation."We can make them [Americans] use their rifles against us or
we can make them build our country, it's your choice," he was quoted as
saying.
Fred Feldman






Insurgent militia drives Italians from their base

Christopher Torcha, Associated Press

May 17, 2004IRAQ0517


http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4779421.html



BAGHDAD -- Fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr drove
Italian forces from a base in the southern city of Nasiriyah on Sunday
and attacked coalition headquarters there with grenade and mortar fire
as tensions in the Shiite region escalated.

The Italian troops evacuated their base as it came under repeated
attack. Portuguese police were called out to support the Italians,
seeing action for the first time since the force of 128 deployed to
Nasiriyah in November, a Portuguese duty officer said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.

At least 10 Italians were wounded, one of the critically, contingent
spokesman Lt. Col. Giuseppe Perrone said. The Italians relocated to the
nearby Tallil air base.

Elsewhere in Nasiriyah, a convoy transporting the Italian official in
charge of the city, Barbara Contini, came under attack as it neared the
headquarters of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, Perrone
said. Two Italian paramilitary police were wounded.

Meanwhile, three Iraqi women were killed Sunday and one was critically
wounded in insurgent attacks, apparent victims of a campaign to
intimidate Iraqis working for the American-led coalition.

One U.S. soldier died and another was wounded in a roadside bombing in
Baghdad late Saturday, officials said. The death brought to 776 the
number of U.S. service members who have died since the beginning of
military operations in Iraq last year. Of those, 566 died as a result of
hostile action.

Insurgent attacks against civilians working with the Americans continue
to unsettle the Iraqi population, a goal of Al-Sadr's militia, which has
also been soliciting volunteers to mount suicide attacks.

Early Sunday, assailants attacked a minibus in Baghdad, killing two
women who worked for the coalition, in addition to the bus driver,
police said. Another woman passenger was injured.

In Mahmoudiyah, an Iraqi woman translator working with U.S. troops was
killed and another critically injured when guerrillas broke into their
homes.

A bomb also went off Saturday in the home of another translator in Kut,
south of Baghdad, but no one was hurt, police said.

U.S. forces say they continue to support efforts by Iraqi leaders to
broker a deal with Al-Sadr, but so far no agreement has been reached.
Al-Sadr is wanted by an Iraqi court in the murder of a rival cleric last
year, and the United States insists he must face those charges.

In Fallujah, a former Saddam Hussein-era general appointed by the
Americans to lead an Iraqi security force in the rebellious Sunni
stronghold urged tribal elders Sunday to support U.S. efforts to
stabilize Iraq.

Former Maj. Gen. Mohammed Abdul-Latif rose to prominence after nearly
monthlong battles last month between Marines and insurgents holed up in
Fallujah's neighborhoods.

"We can make them [Americans] use their rifles against us or we can make
them build our country, it's your choice," Latif told a gathering of
more than 40 sheiks, City Council members and imams in an eastern
Fallujah suburb.

The siege of the city of 200,000 people, located about 40 miles west of
Baghdad, was lifted when top Marine officers announced the creation of
the Fallujah Brigade -- a force made exclusively of former Iraqi Army
officers. The brigade is expected to number about 1,500 men.

In Basra, a mortar shell fired at a British military base hit a nearby
house and killed four Iraqi civilians, including twin 2-year-old girls,
while four other people were injured.

In the city of Samawah in the south, an Iraqi security force member was
killed in an explosion Sunday, while a mortar was fired at Dutch
soldiers guarding the governor's office, Japan's Kyodo News reported.

In another southern city, Amarah, hospital officials reportedly sent an
ambulance to pick up the bodies of 21 Iraqi insurgents killed in the
past few days by British forces, and British troops said they would
deliver another seven bodies.

The Cox New Service contributed to this report.



_______________________________________________
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism