Maliki warns insurgents of wider crackdown

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, March 4 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Sunday told insurgents fighting his government to accept an olive branch or face a security crackdown that will cover "every inch" of Iraq.

Maliki also said he might announce a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle within two weeks. He is expected to replace under- performing ministers in a revamp he has promised for months.

Speaking at a conference aimed at speeding up reconciliation among Iraq's warring factions, Maliki said political consensus could be achieved only if Iraq was stable.

Maliki has been pleased with the early results of a U.S.- backed security crackdown in Baghdad called Operation Imposing Law. The offensive has reduced sectarian death squad killings although car bombings are still common. American commanders say it will take months to see concrete results.

"We do not need to implement security measures except against those who reject the language of reconciliation and dialogue, those who insist on restoring the past," Maliki said, in a reference to Sunni Arab insurgents loyal to Saddam Hussein.

more: http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/YAT434448.htm

U.S. conduct security sweep in Sadr City

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Hundreds of U.S. soldiers entered the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City on Sunday in the first major push into the area since an American-led security sweep began last month around Baghdad.

Soldiers conducted house-to-house searches, but met no resistance in a district firmly in the hands of the Madhi Army militia led by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said Lt. Col. David Oclander.

The move into Sadr City came following negotiations with political leaders in the neighborhood.

Al-Sadr had withdrawn his militia under intense pressure from the government, but there were worries that a large-scale military push without political clearance could bring a backlash and jeopardize the entire security effort.

"The indication that we are getting is a lot of the really bad folks have gone into hiding," Oclander said.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070304/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Iraqi PM to shuffle cabinet in bid to save coalition
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070304/ts_afp/iraq_070304112425

[maddezmom]

1. 3 suspected insurgents captured in Iraq (in mosque)

~snip~

The detainees include a man believed to be responsible for distributing weapons to build bombs for attacks on American and Iraqi forces, the U.S. military said in a statement.

U.S. rules of engagement allow troops to enter mosques only in rare cases.

"We do not enter mosques for the sole purposes of disrupting insurgent activities or conducting a show of force. Mosque entries occur only as a last resort," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman.

U.S. soldiers "respect the sanctity and holiness of all places of worship," he said.

During the operation, an Iraqi woman suffered wounds to her thigh and head, the statement said. She was treated on the scene, then transported to a local hospital.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070304/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_raids

[ohio2007]

2. Entering a mosque was against the rules and now Maliki is "warning"

the insurgents of the rule change ?

It won't be long til the Arab Muslim Iraqi soldiers enter Mosques,
and it won't under the conditions or terms of a "last resort"