Rocket hits BBC bureau in Baghdad
BAGHDAD (AP) - May 9, 2008 At least seven other rocket explosions were heard. But U.S.
authorities did not confirm any strikes inside the Green Zone,
which includes the U.S. Embassy and much of the Iraqi government.
The salvos from Sadr City have come in response to a U.S.-led
push into Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of the powerful Mahdi
Army led by anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. One of the
American objectives is to push militants deeper into the district
and put their rockets and mortars out of range for the Green Zone.
But that also has increased the chances of the shells falling
short into civilian areas. One rocket hit the roof of the BBC
bureau, leaving a 3-by-5 foot hole.
"It caused structural damage but no one was injured," said
Patrick Howse, the BBC bureau chief in Baghdad.
U.S. authorities plan to complete a barrier - up to 12 feet tall
- in parts of Sadr City. It seeks to cut off militia movement and
enable the military to exert more control over the most restive
section of the district - a vast slum of about 2.5 million people.
The street battles in Sadr City began in late March after the
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, launched a crackdown
against the Shiite armed groups in the southern city of Basra. He
has vowed to disarm the Mahdi Army and other groups that operate
outside government control.
Aid groups say at least 6,000 people have fled the homes in Sadr
City to escape the fighting and seek help as food and medical
supplies dwindle.
On Thursday, government envoys set strict demands for Shiite
militias to end their battles, but it was unlikely that militiamen
would abide by the conditions and lay down arms.
"There is no dictator in the world who did what al-Maliki is
doing against his people," an al-Sadr loyalist, cleric Abdul-Hadi
al-Mohammedawi, told worshippers Friday in the southern city of
Kufa.
Al-Sadr last month threatened to unleash an "open war" against
the U.S.-led forces but ordered the militiamen to avoid spilling
Iraqi blood.
Also Friday, the U.S. military denied that the leader of
al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, had been captured, saying a
man with a similar name had been arrested in the northern city of
Mosul.
"Neither coalition forces nor Iraqi security forces detained or
killed Abu Ayyub al-Masri. This guy had a similar name," said Maj.
Peggy Kageleiry, a U.S. military spokeswoman in northern Iraq.
Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said the
confusion arose because the commander of Iraqi forces in the Mosul
region was convinced that he had arrested al-Masri - also known as
Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.
There have been false alarms in the past about al-Masri. At
least twice - in 2006 and May 2007 - reports circulated that he was
dead.
"Iraqi officials are dealing with a developing chain of command
that often leaps to conclusions and reports success before it
occurs, often under pressure from the media," said Anthony
Cordesman, a security analyst for the Center for Strategic and
International Studies.
On Friday evening, Iraqi officials imposed an indefinite vehicle
ban in the northern province of Nineveh, which includes Mosul.
Brig. Gen. Khalid Abdul-Sattar, the provincial security spokesman,
said the ban was prompted by intelligence that Sunni insurgents
might carry out car bombings.