BAGHDAD - A citywide clampdown emptied Baghdad's streets of all vehicles Thursday in attempts to hold off what authorities dread: a storm of Shiite attacks in revenge for the bombing of one of their main shrines. The tactic appeared to keep a lid on widespread violence, but extremists fired shells into the city's protected Green Zone during a visit by the State Department's No. 2 official.
The barrage of rockets and mortars included one that hit on a street close to the Iraq parliament less than a half hour before Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte passed nearby.
The attack again showed militants' resilience — including their ability to strike the heavily protected zone — despite a U.S.-led security crackdown across the city that began exactly four months ago. But officials paid much closer attention to any signs that Shiites could unleash another wave of retaliation against Sunnis for the Wednesday blasts at the Askariya mosque compound in Samarra.
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The Green Zone was repeatedly locked down as U.S. radar picked up incoming rocket fire into the area, which contains the U.S. and British embassies and many key Iraqi government buildings. Workers darted between U.S. occupied buildings in the sprawling region wearing flak jackets and helmets.
A senior military official said it was believed some non-Americans had been killed or wounded. The official, who would not allow use of his name because the official report was not released, said there were no U.S. casualties.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070615/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AngdUbry1XakBM9i1kKxxWMLewgF
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