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Iran Seems to be Sticking by its Promise
2007-11-16 03:37:00
Iran seems to be honoring a commitment to stem the flow of deadly weapons into Iraq, contributing to a more than 50 percent drop in the number of roadside bombs that kill and maim American troops, a U.S. general said Thursday.The comments by Maj. Gen. James Simmons marked rare U.S. praise for Iranian cooperation in efforts to stabilize Iraq. Washington has repeatedly accused the Islamic Republic of aiding Shiite militias and trying to foil U.S. goals in Iraq and the region.But it remains unclear why Iran may have decided to choke off the suspected weapons pipeline. One possibility is that Iran — the most populous Shiite nation — is seeking to shore up the struggling government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, in the belief it will help Tehran's long-term interests.Simmons, a deputy commander of Multinational Corps-Iraq, told reporters that the number of roadside bombs either found or exploded nationwide had fallen from 3,239 in March to 1,560 last month.
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House Passes Iraq Withdrawal Bill
2007-11-15 07:19:00
House Democrats pushed through a $50 billion bill for the Iraq war Wednesday night that would require President Bush to start bringing troops home in coming weeks with a goal of ending combat by December 2008.The legislation, passed 218-203, was largely a symbolic jab at Bush, who already has begun reducing force levels but opposes a congressionally mandated timetable on the war. And while the measure was unlikely to pass in the Senate — let alone overcome a presidential veto — Democrats said they wanted voters to know they weren't giving up."The fact is, we can no longer sustain the military deployment in Iraq," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "Staying there in the manner that we are there is no longer an option."The White House pledged to veto the bill, and Republicans said they would back the president.
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Turkish Helicopters Attack inside Iraq
2007-11-13 17:22:00
Turkish helicopter gunships attacked abandoned villages inside Iraq on Tuesday, Iraqi officials said, in the first such strike since border tensions have escalated in recent months.A spokesman for the Kurdish regional administration, Jamal Abdullah, denied the report but said two Turkish warplanes dropped flares Monday in the mountains near Zakhu.But Col. Hussein Tamir, an Iraqi army officer who supervises border guards, said the airstrikes occurred before dawn on abandoned villages northeast of Zakhu, an Iraqi Kurdish town near the border with Turkey. There were no casualties, he said.A spokesman for the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, corroborated Tamir's account of the airstrikes, and said sporadic clashes had been taking place inside Turkey since late Monday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
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Private Security Guard Kills Unarmed Iraqi Man
2007-11-13 05:42:00
A private security guard fatally shot an Iraqi taxi driver, Iraqi officials said Monday, in the latest incident involving what Iraqis believe are unprovoked killings by contractors hired to protect Americans.A spokesman for DynCorp International, a Falls Church, Va.-based company, said one of its security teams opened fire Saturday to disable a vehicle in Baghdad after it approached a convoy in a threatening manner."Our team had reported that they believed no one was injured. So although there were conflicting reports, we are trying to determine if the incidents are one and the same," said Gregory Lagana, DynCorp's senior vice president for communications.Lagana said the standard procedure in such cases is to fire a single shot into the engine block to disable the vehicle. "There may have been more than one shot taken, but I don't think it was several," he said.
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US Military Reversing Troop Surge in Iraq
2007-11-13 05:23:00
The first big test of security gains linked to the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq is at hand. The military has started to reverse the 30,000-strong troop increase and commanders are hoping the drop in insurgent and sectarian violence in recent months — achieved at the cost of hundreds of lives — won't prove fleeting.As the U.S. troop reductions proceed, it should become clear whether the so-called "surge" strategy that increased the U.S. troop presence in and around Baghdad resulted in any lasting gains against sectarianism. Critics note that the divided government in Baghdad has made few, if any, strides toward political reconciliation that the Americans have said is crucial to stabilizing the country.The acceleration of the U.S. mission away from direct combat to more of a support role will put greater pressure on Iraqi security forces to bear more of the load. And it will test the durability of new U.S. alliances with neighborhood watch groups springing up with surprising speed.
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Bombers strike at police in Baghdad, Mosul
2007-10-17 07:10:00
In Iraq at least 11 people have been killed in suicide bomb attacks nation-wide. A car bomb and an explosives-laden sewage pump truck struck Iraqi security forces in Baghdad and northern Iraq on Tuesday. The car-bomb went off near a fuel station across the street from an Iraqi army checkpoint just before noon, killing four civilians and two Iraqi soldiers. 25 people were wounded, including 19 civilians. In the northern city of Mosul, a suicide bomber blew up a sewage truck as he approached a police station that had been recently rebuilt after four previous attacks. The blast caused most of the building to collapse, killing at least four policemen, and wounding 75 people, police said.
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Governor Schwarzenegger Vetoes Iraq Pullout Vote
2007-09-13 19:04:00
Early Wednesday California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he had vetoed legislation that would have allowed Californians to vote on an advisory measure calling for President Bush to immediately withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq . Schwarzenegger said in a statement that a proposed ballot measure on the war would further divide Californians as they go to the polls in the Feb. 5 presidential primary. The Republican candidate said, "There is no louder message Californians can send to Washington on the Iraq war than who should lead our nation. Placing a nonbinding resolution on Iraq on the same ballot, when it carries no weight or authority, would only further divide voters and shift attention from other critical issues that must be addressed." Schwarzenegger had until midnight Tuesday to sign or veto the bill, which would have put the withdrawal question on California's Feb. 5 ballot. Schwarzenegger has tried to maintain a neutral course on the issue, saying he supports the troops an...
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US General Links Iraq Rocket Attack To Iran
2007-09-13 18:40:00
On Thursday, a US general in Iraq pointed the finger of blame at Shiite militiamen using what he said was an Iran ian-supplied rocket for a fatal attack two days ago on a military base near Baghdad. Major General Kevin Bergner said the rocket was launched from the Rasheed area of west Baghdad which he said was a stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia of firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. One person was killed and 12 injured in an "indirect fire" attack on Tuesday on Camp Victory, a sprawling military base near Baghdad international airport, said the military. Bergner, spokesman for US forces in Iraq, told a press conference the rocket was similar to those supplied in the past by "Iranian sources" to Mahdi Army fighters. But Bergner also acknowledged that there was no direct evidence to prove that Mahdi Army fighters were behind Tuesday's attack nor that the weapon had definitely been supplied by Iranian forces.
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McCain Campaign Heads To New Hampshire
2007-09-13 18:15:00
2008 Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain is returning to New Hampshire today to campaign on a controversial theme: Surrender in Iraq is not an option. Unlike any other 2008 Presidential candidate, McCain has staked his bid for the presidency on his belief that the war in Iraq can and must be won; a stance at odds with a majority of Americans, according to every major opinion poll conducted during the past year. 62 percent of New Hampshire voters said U.S. troops should be withdrawn immediately or by March 2008, according to a recent University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll. McCain, the former Navy fighter pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war, will hold a "No Surrender" rally at the Rochester Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1772 this afternoon. His visit will be among five scheduled stops in the state today and Friday for the campaign drive that began in Iowa on Tuesday. Earlier in Washington, he heard testimony from Gen. David Petraeus, the top American commander in ...
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Sunni Sheik Working With US in Iraq Killed in Bombing
2007-09-13 17:51:00
Iraqi police officials said a Sunni tribal leader instrumental in driving al Qaeda out of Iraq's Anbar province was killed by a bomb attack on Thursday, potentially undermining what has become a new thrust of United States policy in the country. The Sunni leader, Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-Rishawi, led the Anbar Salvation Council, an alliance of clans supporting the Iraqi government and American forces. The initial reports suggested he was killed either by a bomb in his car or by a roadside bomb close to his car near his home in Anbar Province, the sprawling region west of Baghdad. Al-Rishawi, known as Sheik Abdul Sattar to Iraqis and American commanders, had become the public face of the Sunni Arab tribes in lawless Anbar Province who turned against the Sunni jihadists of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and began to fight on the side of the Shiite-led Iraqi government and the American military. Sattar was among the tribal leaders who met with President Bush on September 3rd at al-Asad Air Ba...
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130,000 Troops To Remain In Iraq Next Summer
2007-09-13 17:26:00
Military officials familiar with U.S. deployments said Wednesday that more than 130,000 U.S. troops are likely to remain in Iraq next summer after the withdrawal of five combat brigades. U.S. Iraq commander Army Gen. David Petraeus told Congress in testimony earlier this week that he would recommend that the number of combat brigades in Iraq be reduced by next July, and President Bush is expected to endorse that proposal in a nationally televised speech Thursday. In his testimony to Congress, Petraeus never actually used the 130,000 figure that has been widely reported in the media. Instead, Petraeus said that he would recommend leaving 15 combat brigades in Iraq. Col. Steve Boylan, Petraeus' spokesman said, "We haven't figured out specific troop numbers at this time. We are focused on combat power." Meanwhile, military officials familiar with troop deployments also told McClatchy Newspapers, however, that as many as 140,000 troops would remain in Iraq, depending on the size of th...
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Obama Offers New Plan For Iraq
2007-09-13 17:02:00
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama unveiled a new comprehensive plan for Iraq on Wednesday In eastern Iowa that features a call to pull out all U.S. combat troops by the end of 2008. Obama drew loud applause from his Democratic supporters with his call for American troops to begin leaving Iraq "not in six months or one year. Now." Meanwhile, at the opposite side of the state, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) offered the precise opposite approach, strongly backing the current military plan in Iraq during part of his "No Surrender" bus tour. McCain said at a VFW hall, "America has still got its greatest days ahead of us, but we have got to show the courage and steadfastness to see this thing through." Also during his address on Wednesday, Obama suggested the nation has lost its way because of the war and called for the complete pullout of troops by the end of next year. He said, "Troops should begin immediately to depart at a rate of one or two brigades each month. There is no m...
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General Petraeus Cautious Of Troop Reduction
2007-09-07 19:52:00
General David Petraeus , the most senior US commander in Iraq is considering cutting soldier numbers by about 4,000, media reports say. He has told President Bush that he wants to maintain heightened troop levels in Iraq well into next year to reduce the risk of military setbacks. Senior US officials say that Petraeus may withdraw one brigade if it does not threaten "recent gains" made by US forces since the troop surge. He will also discuss possible further force cuts to come later in 2008 in his assessment on US military strategy in Iraq in Congress next week. Although some military officials consider Petraeus to be overly cautious, they said it reflected his concern that the security gains made so far in Baghdad, Anbar Province and other areas were fragile and easily reversible. A record 168,000 US troops are now in Iraq after 30,000 arrived in the surge.
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7 US Troops Killed In Iraq
2007-09-07 18:46:00
The military said Friday that four U.S. marines were killed in fighting in Anbar province, and three were killed by a roadside bomb in northern Iraq . According to a statement, the four marines assigned to Multi National Force West were killed Thursday while conducting combat operations in Anbar, a predominantly Sunni province west of Baghdad that has seen a recent drop in violence. Also on Thursday, three Task Force Lightning soldiers were also killed when a bomb exploded near their vehicle in the northern Ninevah province, the military said separately. According to an updated Associated Press count, these deaths raised the number of U.S. military who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, to at least 3,760 members.
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Report Claims Iraq Military Nearing Security Capabilties
2007-09-06 18:14:00
A study, produced by a commission headed by U.S. military commanders, expresses optimism that Iraq 's 194,000- member military, including the Army, special-forces commandos and border guards, could have the capability next year to operate with reduced U.S. assistance. Democrat Carl Levin of Michigan, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said at a hearing today on the report, "It is long overdue that we cut the cords of dependence. I believe that is the thrust of the commission's recommendations." The report by the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq is the most comprehensive U.S. analysis to date of Iraq's military. It is one of several reports Congress ordered for presentation before the Bush administration offers its own assessment and Congress resumes its debate on Iraq. Next week Army General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker will give a report that many lawmakers have said will determine whether more...
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Australian Labor Leader Likely To Withdraw Troops
2007-09-06 17:44:00
On Thursday US President George W. Bush met with Kevin Rudd, the man tipped to be Australia's next prime minister, who has pledged to pull the country's troops out of Iraq. Rudd, leader of the centre-left Labor Party, indicated that Bush had been unable to persuade him to change his mind about Iraq, saying he had stuck to his well-known position on a staged withdrawal. Rudd said, "On the Iraq question ... I made very plain to the president that we had a different point of view. I think I can safely say he noted that view." Although Bush did not respond to reporters' questions about the talks, the White House national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said that the US leader "had a good session" with Rudd. Johndroe said,"They exchanged views on issues in Asia, the upcoming APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) meeting and the war on terror, including Iraq." Rudd and his Labor party currently have a commanding lead over Prime Minister John Howard and the conservative government...
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6 US Troops Killed in Baghdad
2007-09-05 20:01:00
On Wednesday the U.S. military reported the deaths of six U.S. soldiers in Baghdad .. two on Wednesday and four on Tuesday. On Wednesday two soldiers died in combat in eastern Baghdad, a military statement said. On Tuesday also in eastern Baghdad, three U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb, and one died in combat in western Baghdad, the military added. The bomb, known as an explosively-formed penetrator, detonated while the soldiers were on patrol during combat operations in the eastern section of the Iraqi capital. Although the military has said for months that the high-tech, armor-piercing explosively-formed penetrators are supplied to insurgents in Iraq by Iranian operatives, Iran denies it. A U.S. military statement said U.S.-led coalition forces captured a "highly sought" individual with alleged ties to Iran early Wednesday during a raid south of Baghdad in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Karbala. The number of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq war now stands at 3,750, inc...
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Bush and Howard Defend War Status
2007-09-05 19:47:00
On Wednesday US President George W. Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard said they saw progress in Iraq and rejected heavy pressure to set a timetable to bring home troops fighting there. "Bush said, "It's important, in my judgement, for the security of America or for the security of Australia, that we hang in there with the Iraqis and help them." Howard added, "Our commitment to Iraq remains." Despite their commitment, the prime minister suggested that Australian forces might shift away from combat roles, while the president for the second time in two days held out the possibility that he could announce a troop draw-down as early as next week. Bush told a joint press conference with his host, "If conditions still improve, security conditions still improve the way they have been improving ... we may be able to provide the same security with fewer troops." Although Howard insists that Australian forces will remain at their current levels in Iraq, he said "it may, over time...
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General Petraeus Hints At Troop Reduction In Iraq
2007-09-05 19:21:00
General David Petraeus , the head U.S. military commander in Iraq , has suggested he will recommend a cut in U.S. troop numbers around March when he delivers long-awaited testimony to Congress next week. Petraeus' comments are the latest sign that U.S. commanders believe U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to send an extra 30,000 soldiers to Iraq earlier this year has improved security enough to warrant a reduction in force levels. On Wednesday at a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in Sydney, Bush said he saw signs of progress in Iraq on both the military and political fronts and again held out the possibility of a cut in troop numbers from the current 160,000. In an interview with ABC News, Petraeus signaled he was looking at March for reducing troop levels. He said, "The surge will run its course. There are limits to what our military can provide, so, my recommendations have to be informed by - not driven by - but they have to be informed by the strain we have put on our milit...
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General Petraeus Says Troop Surge Working
2007-08-31 20:41:00
Gen. David Petraeus , the top U.S. general in the country said in an interview published Friday that America's troop surge in Iraq has sharply reduced sectarian killings and roadside bombings and lowered al-Qaida's influence. The Australian newspaper quoted him as saying, "We say we have achieved progress, and we are obviously going to do everything we can to build on that progress and we believe al-Qaida is off balance at the very least." Petraeus said there had been a 75 percent drop in ethnic and religious killings since last year, a doubling in the number of seizures of insurgent weapons caches between January and August, a drop in the number of coalition deaths from roadside bombs, and an increase in the killing and capture of al-Qaida fighters. The newspaper also quoted the general as saying that the rise in al-Qaida "kills and captures" had caused the group to lose influence with Sunni Muslims. Petraeus said the surge, in which an additional 20,000 troops were deployed in Ir...
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Plane Carrying US Senators Shot At In Iraq
2007-08-31 20:03:00
On Thursday a military airplane carrying four members of the U.S. Congress came under fire over Iraq , but the plane was not hit and no one was hurt, a spokesman for one of the lawmakers said on Friday. Ken Lundberg, spokesman for Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida, who was on the plane, said the C-130 cargo aircraft conducted evasive maneuvers after a nighttime takeoff from Baghdad. In addition to Martinez, the plane was carrying fellow Republican Sens. Richard Shelby of Alabama and James Inhofe of Oklahoma, and Alabama Rep. Robert "Bud" Cramer, a Democrat. Lundberg said Martinez had been told three rocket-propelled grenades were fired at the plane. But a senior U.S. defense official in Washington said small arms fire appeared to have been responsible. Lundberg said the senator told him, "He (Martinez) had just taken his body armor off and was getting ready to snooze. Then there was a flash of light, and the plane started banking in different directions. The whole incident was over in thr...
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Iraq Chemicals Discovered At UN
2007-08-31 19:40:00
Although no unconventional weapons were found in Iraq after the United States-led invasion in 2003, a potentially deadly chemical agent produced by Saddam Hussein's regime has turned up, improbably, in an office at the United Nations in New York, and it had the F.B.I. and the city police scrambling yesterday. Federal, city and United Nations officials said the small quantity of the chemical, phosgene, was contained and appeared to pose no immediate danger. But unanswered questions about its risks and about how material from Iraq's notorious chemical warfare center wound up in New York made their way up to the State Department, the Senate and the White House yesterday. Marie Okabe, a deputy spokeswoman for the United Nations, said, "There is no immediate risk or danger. Unmovic staff are still working on the premises." Ms. Okabe said that a United Nations investigation, in conjunction with the F.B.I., was under way to determine how the potentially hazardous chemical came to be ther...
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Kevin Rudd Unmoved By Bush On Iraq Withdrawal
2007-08-31 19:16:00
Opposition Labor Leader Kevin Rudd has rebuffed US President George Bush 's intervention in domestic politics by refusing to bend on the ALP's commitment to pull troops out of Iraq . In pointed remarks before his Australian visit, President Bush told reporters he would tell Mr. Rudd that an early withdrawal of Australian troops would be disastrous. Bush said the decision should be made on the basis of conditions on the ground, claiming there were strong signs the US was making headway. Bush said in an interview with journalists from the region, "I'm going to remind him that, one, the stakes in Iraq are very high for peace; that the liberation of a country (and) Iraqi-style democracy in the heart of the Middle East is part of winning this ideological struggle. And I'll remind him that, as far as I'm concerned, leaving Iraq before the job is done will cause an enemy that attacked us before to become emboldened." Mr. Rudd replied that he would not be moved on Labor's policy on Iraq...
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President Bush Discusses Iraq Concerns With Military Leaders
2007-08-31 18:50:00
United States President , George Bush , is expected to hear deep concerns about the long-term impact on U.S. forces of maintaining a heavy troop presence in Iraq in 2008 and beyond as he consults military leaders on how to go forward in Iraq. Iraq was to be the main topic at a meeting, scheduled for Friday, at the Pentagon with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The Army and the Marine Corps have shouldered most of the burden in Iraq, creating strains on troops and families, that service leaders fear could hurt their recruiting as well as their preparedness for other military emergencies. Meanwhile, two independent assessments of the situation in Iraq already have been previewed this week. The latest finding was that Iraq's national police are so corrupt and influenced by sectarianism that the corps should be scrapped and replaced with a smaller force. However, it did not appear that the session was intended to work out a consensus military view on how long...
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Katie Couric To Travel To Iraq For CBS
2007-08-29 21:02:00
CBS News anchor Katie Couric is to travel to Iraq and Syria to report on the war, the executive producer of the broadcast, Rick Kaplan, said yesterday. This will be Couric's first trip to the war zone. Mr. Kaplan said Ms. Couric had decided the trip was important as a way to lay out the issues before the report that the American commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, is due to make to Congress in mid-September. Mr. Kaplan, who will accompany Ms. Couric, said, "I don’t travel an anchor lightly. Only when it's important. I think it is, and Katie thinks it is." Kaplan explained that Ms. Couric would compile 8 to 10 reports, backed by 4 or 5 reports from the lead CBS correspondent in Iraq, Lara Logan. Starting Tuesday night, Couric will anchor the evening newscast from Baghdad and Damascus, Syria. CBS plans to interview General Petraeus and other American military and Iraqi officials. Kaplan said CBS was seeking interviews with seven soldiers who wrote an Op-Ed article in The Ne...
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Actress Angelina Jolie Visits Iraq
2007-08-29 20:38:00
Actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie arrived in the war-torn country of Iraq on Tuesday in her capacity as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. On Monday, the mother-of-four flew from New York City to Damascus, Syria, where she spent hours chatting to Iraqi refugees and visited a United Nations Refugee Agency registration centre. On Tuesday Jolie travelled to a makeshift outpost on the Syria/Iraqi border to meet 1,200 refugees, camped there because they are unable to leave the country. She said, "I have come to Syria and Iraq to help draw attention to the humanitarian crisis and to urge governments to increase their support for UNHCR and its partners. My sole purpose in both countries is to highlight the plight of those uprooted by the war in Iraq. It is absolutely essential that the ongoing debate about Iraq's future includes plans for addressing the enormous humanitarian consequences these people face." Jolie has also made a morale-boosting trip to meet with multi-national fo...
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White House Requesting Additional $50 Billion For Iraq
2007-08-29 20:13:00
The White House is planning to ask Congress for an additional $50 Billion for the ongoing conflict in Iraq but is expected to take place after senior officials give their testimony in the House sometime before September 15th. General David Petraeus, the commander of the US forces in Iraq and Ryan Crocker, the country's Ambassador to Iraq, are likely to give an optimistic assessment of the "surge" operations in and around Baghdad. A congressional aide said that the request is being prepared now in the belief that Congress will be unlikely to call for rapid withdrawal of American forces so soon after hearing the two officials argue that there are promising developments in Iraq but that they need more time to solidify the progress they have made. This latest demand is in addition of the $460 billion defense budget for the fiscal 2008 and another $147 billion in a pending Supplemental Bill to fund the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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US Military Frees 8 Iranians Held Overnight
2007-08-29 19:49:00
Iran has protested the U.S. military's detention in Iraq of eight Iranians who the U.S. military says were found with unauthorized weapons in their vehicles. Yassin Majid, an aide to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said the Iranians who were arrested Tuesday worked for Iran's Energy Ministry and were in Baghdad at the invitation of Iraqi officials to sign an energy supply contract. The U.S. military said the Iranians, including two with diplomatic passports, were briefly detained for questioning and handed over to Iraqi officials this Wednesday morning. A senior U.S. official familiar with the incident told CNN the delegates should not have been detained in such a fashion. It was a mistake ordered by a low-level commander, the official said. The U.S. military has said the Iraqi security escorts were carrying pistols and a rifle but had no weapons permits.
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President Bush Leaning Towards Increased Troops In Iraq
2007-08-29 19:23:00
United States President , George Bush , has given his strongest indication yet that he intends to continue with plans to increase troop numbers in Iraq following the September 15 report to Congress, when he delivered an upbeat assessment of military progress and a more positive view of the political outlook. Bush also warned that pulling out of Iraq would harm U.S. interests in the Middle East for decades and expose America to the threat of increased terrorism and a nuclear arms race in the region by allowing al-Qaeda-backed Sunni extremists to flourish and Shiite extremism in Iran to spread. The Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, complicated the issue on Tuesday, saying that America's power in Iraq was rapidly collapsing and that Iran was ready to step in to help fill the position.
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50 Killed At Iraqi Religious Festival
2007-08-29 18:58:00
On Tuesday Shiite militias attacked each other in Karbala, killing more than 50 people in gunfights, setting fire to three hotels and forcing authorities to scuttle a religious festival by ordering a million celebrants to leave the holy city where they had gathered. Iraqi officials said that more than 200 others were wounded in the panic that ensued when Mahdi Army members loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada Sadr battled the Badr Organization, the armed wing of the rival Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. The death toll was expected to climb as witnesses reported dozens of bodies still slumped on the streets surrounding the Imam Hussein shrine and amid the smoldering rubble of the three nearby buildings set ablaze during the rampage. Throughout the hours of fighting, several vehicles and a hotel for pilgrims were set ablaze, and terrified pilgrims who had been praying at two shrines were trapped inside as clashes erupted nearby. Also, witnesses said buses that had been used to bring p...
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