In Baghdad hotspot, government deadlock irrelevant

By Omar al-Ibadi

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Even if Iraqi leaders finally break the
deadlock over a new government, they will have their work cut
out stabilizing Baghdad trouble spots like Adhamiya, where
sectarian tensions fueled fierce gun battles this week.

The U.S. military said 50 insurgents attacked Iraqi forces
overnight Monday in seven hours of clashes so fierce that
American troop reinforcements were called in to help.

Residents said Sunni insurgents defended the northern
district from what they called invading Iraqi government forces
and allied Shi’ite militiamen who came to kidnap and kill.

Whatever the case, sectarian mistrust between Iraqis runs
so deep in areas such as Adhamiya that forming a new government
offers no guarantees security will improve.

“We are defending our lives and our neighbors and our
families from any attack. We are holding our guns up high,”
said insurgent Abu Yarer, 28.

Iraq’s Shi’ite, Kurdish and Arab Sunni leaders are
struggling to form a government four months after parliamentary
elections that were expected to deliver stability.

The United States and Britain have repeatedly warned Iraqi
politicians that the deadlock is fuelling violence.

But any new government will still face the challenge of
breaking a relentless cycle of sectarian clashes that has
threatened to drive Iraq into full-scale civil war.

Iraqi officials and their American backers hope the
political process will persuade rebels like Abu Nawras to hand
over their weapons and embrace democracy.

But the former officer in Saddam Hussein’s army is digging
in again for what he calls sectarian attacks by
Shi’ite-dominated security forces on mainly Sunni Adhamiya.

“We are living in a time when the government uses excessive
force motivated by sectarianism,” said Abu Nawras, in a white
shirt and gray trousers.

He and other rebels say they will never trust Iraq’s
Shi’ite Alliance, which has 130 of the parliament’s 275 seats
and is certain to remain dominant in the new government.

Life has returned to normal in the northern district since
Monday’s fighting. Shops and cafes have reopened and worshipers
are returning to Abu Hanifa mosque, where Saddam was last seen
in public before he went into hiding.

But Sunnis in Adhamiya and elsewhere accuse the Shi’ite-led
government of sanctioning militia death squads.

The government denies the charges, which have multiplied
since the February bombing of a major Shi’ite shrine touched
off reprisals and counter-killings. Hundreds of bodies with
bullet holes and torture marks have turned up on Baghdad’s
streets.

Abu Alya, 57, a former merchant and Sunni insurgent in
Adhamiya, believes a non-sectarian government could unite
Iraqis. But he doesn’t seem optimistic.

“What is happening here is not just resistance for nothing
but it is defending our lives, our possessions and beliefs,” he
said.

(Writing by Michael Georgy; editing by Alistair Lyon and
Philippa Fletcher)