Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.
BAGHDAD (AP):
Iraq's prime minister yesterday gave gunmen in the southern oil port of Basra a three-day deadline to surrender their weapons and renounce violence as Iraqi troops clashed with Shi'ite militia fighters for a second day.
Suspected Shi'ite extremists also unleashed rockets or mortars against the United States (US)-protected Green Zone in central Baghdad for the third day this week.
Three Americans were seriously injured in yesterday's attacks, US Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said. At least eight Iraqis also were killed after several mortar or rocket rounds apparently fell short in several areas in Baghdad, according to police and hospital officials.
Supervise a crackdown
The ultimatum came as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki remained in Basra to supervise a crackdown against the spiralling violence between militia factions vying for control of the centre of the country's vast oil industry located near the Iranian border.
At least 55 people were killed and 300 wounded in Basra and Baghdad in fighting that broke out on Tuesday and spread to the capital's main Shi'ite district of Sadr City, according to Iraqi police and hospital officials.
The violence has raised fears that the ceasefire declared in August by radical Sh́ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr could unravel, presenting the gravest challenge to the Iraqi government in months.
Officials in al-Sadr's headquarters in Najaf, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the anti-US cleric had sent local representatives to ask al-Maliki to leave Basra and to resolve the problems peacefully. The aides also told the government no negotiations could be held until Iraqi reinforcements withdrew from the city.
A resumption of intense fighting by al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia could threaten at least in the short run the security gains Washington has hailed as a sign that Iraq is on the road to recovery.
