BAGHDAD, 26 October 2006 — Iraq’s Shi’ite prime minister pledged yesterday to crack down on illegal militias but criticized a US raid on a Shiite militia stronghold that killed at least four people.
A day after US officials assured Americans the prime minister had agreed “timelines” to help end sectarian militia violence, Nuri Al-Maliki used his own news conference to dismiss talk of any “timetable” for action.
The US military said Iraqi special forces backed by US airstrikes conducted the raid in the Sadr City district of Baghdad “to capture a top illegal armed group commander directing widespread death squad activity.”
Unusually, the US statement specifically said the raid had been “authorized by the government of Iraq.”
But Maliki, who is under mounting pressure from an impatient Washington to curb violence so US forces can start to go home, said there was a “lack of coordination” in the raid.
The Interior Ministry said four people were killed and 20 wounded.
Residents said the dead included two Mehdi Army militiamen loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, a powerful force behind Maliki’s national unity government.
Asked about the raid by reporters, however, Maliki appeared to contradict the US account, saying: “We will be seeking an explanation from the multinational forces to avoid a repetition of what happened without our cooperation in advance.”
Asked if the raid marked the start of a crackdown, he said it was not, and he hoped it was the start of a reconciliation.
In a sign of challenges Iraqi leaders face in achieving “benchmarks” agreed with an impatient US administration, Maliki was the object of anger in the sprawling Sadr City slum.
Angry relatives and the wounded blamed both US forces and Maliki’s government. “Where is Maliki? Where is his freedom?,” said one man lying on a stretcher in the hospital. Another man in the hospital shouted: “All this is because of Maliki.”
Maliki has struggled to balance the conflicting demands of his Shiite-led coalition government.
Sectarian and militia violence has escalated, raising fears of a full-scale civil war.
Six months after Maliki took office, with vital support from Sadr, he has made little headway on pledges to curb militias.
Less than two weeks before the Nov. 7 US congressional elections that have put President George W. Bush’s Republicans on the defensive over their Iraq strategy, ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and the military commander in Baghdad said on Tuesday success was still possible, and on a “realistic timetable.”
Khalilzad singled out Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia on Tuesday as needing to be “brought under control.”
Just last week US forces arrested a senior Sadr aide, only to release him the following day on Maliki’s request.
Khalilzad said Iraqi leaders had agreed to a timetable of political and security measures and he expected “significant progress” on the steps in the next 12 months.
US officials have pointedly avoided using the term “deadline” and have not said what Washington would do if the benchmarks are not met.
Maliki too insisted he was not working to any deadlines.
“The Americans have the right to review their policies, but we do not believe in a timetable,” he said.
But the premier did repeat he would deal with the militias: “The state is the only one that has the right to carry weapons ... We will deal with anyone outside the law.
“Everyone now realizes that the existence of armed groups and militias harms the stability and unity of the state.”
Television footage showed five bodies in a morgue in Sadr City as well as at least six wounded, including one elderly woman, in a local hospital.
There did not appear to be any connection to the hunt for a US soldier of Iraqi descent who went missing on Monday when he left the fortified Green Zone to visit relatives.
“We are putting all our assets into finding the soldier,” said Lt. Col. Steve Stoder.
Ninety US soldiers have been killed in October, the highest monthly figure since November 2005.
Bush insists the United States must stay to stabilize security in Iraq but the war is increasingly unpopular among Americans and many critics now want a deadline for US withdrawal.
