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Iraqi Forces Begin Baghdad Operation

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Tens of thousands of Iraqi police and soldiers searched cars and secured roads in Baghdad on Wednesday as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched a major security crackdown aimed at ending the violence that has devastated the capital.

Despite the stepped up security measures, however, a parked car bomb struck the northern district of Qahira, killing at least four civilians and wounding six, police Lt. Ali Mitaab said.

The crackdown, which army officials said was dubbed Operation Forward Together, began a day after President Bush paid a surprise visit to Baghdad, promising continued U.S. support for Iraqis but cautioning them that "the future of the country is in your hands."

Iraqis encountered more checkpoints and soldiers as they drove to work Wednesday morning, causing traffic to back up in some areas, although noticeably fewer cars were on the streets elsewhere.

Al-Maliki called on Iraqis to be patient with the security measures and promised Iraqi forces would respect human rights and not single out any ethnic or sectarian group.

"We are only going to attack areas that are dens for terrorists," he said during a news conference to formally unveil the plan in Baghdad.

Maj. Gen. Mahdi al-Gharrawi, the commander of public order forces under the Interior Ministry, said his forces had not encountered any resistance, even in some of the capital's most volatile areas.

"The people are feeling comfortable with the security measures and they are waving to us," he said. "Until now, no clashes have erupted and no bullets have been fired at us."

Osama Ahmed Salah, a 50-year-old Sunni university professor in western Baghdad, said he hoped authorities would not randomly target the minority sect.

"The security plan operations should not depend on false information and they should not be sectarian or directed against a specific kind of people," he said. "The operations should be well-prepared and they should not be conducted in a way that humiliates citizens."

Security officials said Tuesday that 75,000 Iraqi and multinational forces would be deployed throughout Baghdad, securing roads in and out of the city, establishing more checkpoints, launching raids against insurgent hideouts and calling in airstrikes if necessary.

Al-Maliki also has announced plans for an extended curfew and a weapons ban, saying he would show "no mercy" to terrorists a week after al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike northeast of Baghdad.

The government did not say how long the crackdown would last and declined to give precise numbers about checkpoints and troops on Wednesday, citing security concerns.

But al-Gharrawi said Tuesday that the operation was the biggest of its kind in Baghdad since the U.S. handed over sovereignty to Iraq in June 2004.

The Iraqi army launched a similar crackdown dubbed Operation Lightning in May 2005, deploying more than 40,000 Iraqi police and soldiers, backed by American troops and air support. However, violence continued to spike and many Sunnis were alienated by the heavy-handed tactics concentrating on their neighborhoods.

The extended curfew is expected to curtail what few social activities Baghdad's 6 million residents have left. But those activities were already restricted in many neighborhoods where the streets are not safe at night.

Bush's visit, meanwhile, prompted a noisy protest in Baghdad on Wednesday by hundreds of followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The demonstrators raised Iraqi flags and pictures of al-Sadr while chanting "Iraq is for Iraqis" and "No to the occupation."

Al-Sadr led two armed uprisings against U.S.-led forces in 2004 and frequently has criticized the foreign military mission.

Abdul-Hadi al-Daraji, one of al-Sadr's closest political advisers, accused Bush of breaching Iraq's sovereignty by arriving in the country without notice. Bush's trip was made under incredibly tight security and only a handful of close aides knew about it in advance. Al-Maliki himself did not know the president was in Baghdad until five minutes before they met.

"Even the Iraqi prime minister wasn't informed about the visit by the American president to Iraq," al-Daraji said in an interview with Al-Jazeera TV. "These violations by the U.S.A. ... are in fact rejected by the Iraqi people."

He also demanded that U.S.-led troops be withdrawn from the country.

Bush said Tuesday that the U.S. military presence - now at about 132,000 troops - would continue for a while. "I have expressed our country's desire to work with you, but I appreciate you recognize the fact that the future of the country is in your hands," Bush said.

Despite Wednesday's protest, the visit was welcomed by many Iraqis.

"It is truly a surprise visit, but it is a good gesture and a step forward on the path of establishing security and stability," author Abbas al-Rubai said in Baghdad.

Baghdad's residents have suffered most from the suicide attackers and other bombings and shootings that plague the country on a daily basis and al-Qaida in Iraq has been increasingly focusing its attacks on the capital rather than on U.S. targets in western Iraq.

Authorities said they have specific intelligence that would help them focus the new security measures. "Baghdad is divided according to geographical area, and we know the al-Qaida leaders in each area," al-Gharrawi said.

Despite the security crackdown, he warned insurgents were likely to step up their attacks.

"We are expecting clashes will erupt in the predominantly Sunni areas," al-Gharrawi said. "The terrorists will escalate their violence especially during the first week as revenge for the killing of al-Zarqawi."

Civilians have also complained of random violence and detentions by Iraqi forces, especially the police, which are widely believed to have been infiltrated by so-called sectarian death squads.

Al-Gharrawi said there were plans for a single uniform to distinguish legitimate forces in the coming days. "There will be a special uniform with special badges to be put on the vehicles as a sign that it belongs to our forces," he said.

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Associated Press writers Kim Gamel, Qais al-Bashir and Sinan Salahedding contributed to this report from Baghdad.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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