Iraqi PM Vows to Crush Shi'ite Militias
By VOA News
27 March 2008
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has vowed to pursue Shi'ite militias to the end after three days of fighting in Basra and other cities has left more than 100 people dead.
Mr. Maliki Thursday declared the Iraqi government will never back down in its pursuit of the militants.
The prime minister Wednesday issued an ultimatum, ordering Shi'ite gunmen to surrender their weapons by Friday or face the consequences.
Suspected Shi'ite extremists also continued to attack Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone Thursday, killing one civilian and wounding 14 others.
Also in Baghdad, tens of thousands of followers of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr held demonstrations against Mr. Maliki and to protest the crackdown on militias loyal to Sadr.
Sadr's forces are angry over the recent raids and detentions, saying U.S. and Iraqi forces are taking advantage of the radical cleric's August cease-fire to crack down on the movement.
In other news, an Interior Ministry official says a spokesman, Tahseen Sheikhly, for the Baghdad security plan has been kidnapped from his home in the capital.
Meanwhile, the FBI says authorities have identified the remains of at least two more U.S. contractors kidnapped in Iraq more than a year ago.
Earlier, Iraqi officials say a bomb struck an oil pipeline in Basra - the country's oil hub. Officials did not say who was responsible for the pipeline attack.
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