Home
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
CEIBS forum highlights environmental, social concerns in volatile global markets
Shanghai set to sustain growth momentum by promoting its business environment
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
Uprising is put down in Baghdad Sunni slum
Source: Agencies |
March 30, 2009, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
UNITED States-backed Iraqi forces swept through a central Baghdad slum yesterday, disarming government-allied Sunni fighters after they launched an uprising to protest the arrest of their leader.
The standoff in Fadhil, a Sunni enclave on the east bank of the Tigris River where al-Qaida once held sway, eased by midday as convoys of US and Iraqi forces rolled into the neighborhood.
But the confrontation threatens to undermine US efforts to stabilize Baghdad before American troops pull out of Iraqi cities by the end of June.
Trouble started on Saturday when Iraqi troops arrested the head of Fadhil's Awakening Council for alleged terrorist activity and for purportedly leading an armed group loyal to Saddam Hussein's ousted party.
The arrest triggered fierce gunfights between Iraqi forces and Awakening Council members, killing four people and wounding 15.
Six more people, including four women, were wounded yesterday in sporadic shooting that occurred as US and Iraqi soldiers began sealing off the neighborhood, police and hospital officials said.
The confrontation is important and potentially explosive because the Awakening Councils, also known as Sons of Iraq, are Sunni security volunteers who broke with al-Qaida and joined forces with the Americans.
The councils help man checkpoints and guard neighborhoods, playing a major role in turning the tide against the Sunni insurgency.
Some Awakening Council leaders expressed fear that Saturday's arrest could signal a crackdown on them by the Shiite-led government - a move that could send many volunteers back to the ranks of the insurgents.
An Iraqi military spokesman told government television that operation in Fadhil was directed at "pursuing those involved in opening fire on our security forces" and not the general Sunni population.
A US military spokesman, Colonel Bill Buckner, insisted the arrest did not herald a crackdown.
The standoff in Fadhil, a Sunni enclave on the east bank of the Tigris River where al-Qaida once held sway, eased by midday as convoys of US and Iraqi forces rolled into the neighborhood.
But the confrontation threatens to undermine US efforts to stabilize Baghdad before American troops pull out of Iraqi cities by the end of June.
Trouble started on Saturday when Iraqi troops arrested the head of Fadhil's Awakening Council for alleged terrorist activity and for purportedly leading an armed group loyal to Saddam Hussein's ousted party.
The arrest triggered fierce gunfights between Iraqi forces and Awakening Council members, killing four people and wounding 15.
Six more people, including four women, were wounded yesterday in sporadic shooting that occurred as US and Iraqi soldiers began sealing off the neighborhood, police and hospital officials said.
The confrontation is important and potentially explosive because the Awakening Councils, also known as Sons of Iraq, are Sunni security volunteers who broke with al-Qaida and joined forces with the Americans.
The councils help man checkpoints and guard neighborhoods, playing a major role in turning the tide against the Sunni insurgency.
Some Awakening Council leaders expressed fear that Saturday's arrest could signal a crackdown on them by the Shiite-led government - a move that could send many volunteers back to the ranks of the insurgents.
An Iraqi military spokesman told government television that operation in Fadhil was directed at "pursuing those involved in opening fire on our security forces" and not the general Sunni population.
A US military spokesman, Colonel Bill Buckner, insisted the arrest did not herald a crackdown.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
