Iraq Shi’ite militias fight as splits emerge

By Luke Baker

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Fighting broke out in Baghdad and the
holy city of Najaf late on Wednesday between rival Shi’ite
militias, kindling fears of a renewed uprising by radical
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr against the U.S.-backed government.

Hours after a bloody show of force by Sunni insurgents on
the streets of Baghdad, it raised the prospect of Iraqis across
the sectarian divide opposing the constitution the Shi’ite-led
government is expected to force through parliament on Thursday.

At least eight people were killed and dozens wounded,
health officials said, in street battles in Najaf involving
pro- government fighters and supporters of Sadr, who has joined
Sunni Arab leaders in denouncing the constitution as divisive.

Washington has pressed hard for the charter to be adopted
as part of its strategy for eventually pulling out its troops.

The Interior Minister dispatched police commandos to Najaf
and announced a curfew in the city on state television.

A spokesman for Sadr warned of a “general call to arms” if
rival groups did not apologize for what he called an attack on
Sadr’s office in Najaf. His Mehdi Army was banned after U.S.
troops crushed two uprisings a year ago, but it has not
disarmed.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari appealed for calm in a live
televised address after midnight and condemned the attack.

Speaking with unaccustomed urgency and force, he said:
“Peace must reign. This language of violence cannot be
permitted in the new Iraq … The gun and the language of the
gun are finished.”

His health minister, a Sadr supporter, said eight people
were killed when a protest outside the movement’s office in
Najaf turned violent. Another official said the office was
burned down. The minister said he would suspend his involvement
with the government until the issue was resolved.

BAGHDAD CLASHES

Later, Baghdad police said armed Sadr followers attacked
offices of the Badr movement, allied to a powerful Shi’ite
Islamist party in the ruling coalition, in three Shi’ite
districts. Witnesses saw at least one office that was occupied.

Sadr supporters joined Sunni demonstrators in a protest
march on Wednesday, part of efforts to mobilize a blocking vote
against the new charter at a referendum expected in October.

Witnesses said up to 500 armed men loyal to Sadr gathered
around his Najaf office following street battles that broke out
after dark in the city, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad.

Officials said Sadr would speak there shortly.

Hundreds of armed Sadr followers rallied at the movement’s
office in Iraq’s second city of Basra, in the south.

Sadr’s spokesman blamed the violence on the police and
“another group,” an apparent reference to the Badr militia,
linked to the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in
Iraq (SCIRI), a key element of the coalition government.

The head of the Badr movement denied any involvement.

Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabor, a SCIRI member, sent
police commandos to Najaf.

Rival groups say many former Badr fighters have joined the
U.S.-trained police force in Baghdad and southern Iraq.

Disputes have emerged between Shi’ite groups ahead of the
constitutional referendum in October and an election scheduled
for December. The government has disappointed the hopes of many
in the Shi’ite majority who expected rapid improvements in
their security and prosperity after decades of Sunni dominance.

Sadr is young for such an influential cleric but derives
strength from poor Shi’ites and his late father’s religious
aura. An outspoken Iraqi nationalist, he has maintained
political ties with Sunni leaders. His followers join Sunnis in
complaining SCIRI and other formerly exiled pro-government
groups of being too close to non-Arab, Shi’ite Iran.

SUNNI INSURGENTS

In mid-afternoon in Baghdad dozens of insurgents ambushed
police in the Sunni stronghold of Hay al-Jamia. At least six
police vehicles were set ablaze as a group of about 40
guerrillas, some with faces masked, fired rocket-propelled
grenades and automatic weapons in a brazen assault on a police
checkpoint and on reinforcements who arrived to help.

“It was raining bullets,” said a police official.

Police said 10 civilians and three policemen died. A police
source said 43 people were wounded.

Parliament is expected to vote on Thursday on the new
constitution although no sitting has yet been scheduled.

When it was presented just ahead of a Monday deadline, the
vote was put off for three days, apparently to help tempers
cool after Sunnis said they would demand further major changes.

A No vote by a two-thirds majority in three of Iraq’s 18
provinces would veto the constitution, however.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani held another day of talks
with leaders from the Sunni, Shi’ite and Kurdish communities on
Wednesday to try to forge a consensus on the charter, but he
looked unlikely to succeed before the vote on Thursday.

Sunni leaders said they were determined to stand firm
against a document they argue would devolve too much power to
potentially oil-rich regions controlled by Shi’ites and Kurds.

(Additional reporting by Mussab al-Khairalla, Aseel Kami,
Alastair Macdonald and Hiba Moussa in Baghdad, Khaled Farhan in
Najaf and Abdel Razzak Hamed in Basra)