IRAQ: U.S. TROOPS DESTROY THE OFFICE OF THE RADICAL SH'ITE LEADER MOQTADA AL-SADR IN THE IRAQI HOLY CITY OF KERBALA
Record ID:
230507
IRAQ: U.S. TROOPS DESTROY THE OFFICE OF THE RADICAL SH'ITE LEADER MOQTADA AL-SADR IN THE IRAQI HOLY CITY OF KERBALA
- Title: IRAQ: U.S. TROOPS DESTROY THE OFFICE OF THE RADICAL SH'ITE LEADER MOQTADA AL-SADR IN THE IRAQI HOLY CITY OF KERBALA
- Date: 5th May 2004
- Summary: (W7) KERBALA , IRAQ (MAY 6, 2004) (REUTERS) AUDIO AS INCOMING (FAULTY) 1. PAN/GV OF SMOKE RISING FROM AL-SADR OFFICE AND AUDIO OF AN EXPLOSION (2 SHOTS) 0.15 2. GV/SV OF SMOKE RISING NEAR IMAM AL-HUSSEIN HOLY SHRINE/IRAQIS PRAYING (4 SHOTS) 0.39 3. LV HELICOPTERS FLYING OVER KERBALA 0.44 (EU) NAJAF, IRAQ (MAY 6, 2004) (REUTERS) 4. GV PLUMES OF SMOKE RISING FROM CEMETERY 0.54 5. GV U.S. APACHE HELICOPTER FLYING OVER NAJAF CEMETERY 1.01 6. TV CAR DRIVING THROUGH STREET 1.08 7. TV MEHDI ARMY MEMBERS DRIVING INTO CEMETERY 1.15 (EU) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (MAY 6, 2004) (REUTERS) 8. LV U.S. CHIEF CIVIL ADMINISTRATOR IN IRAQ PAUL BREMER AT NEWS CONFERENCE WITH THE NEW US APPOINTED GOVERNOR FOR NAJAF, ADNAN ZURFI 1.27 9. MCU (English) TOP U.S. ADMINISTRATOR PAUL BREMER SAYING "The Iraqi authorities and the coalition are co-operating to reaffirm the rule of law and restore order to the middle Euphrates region. To further that co-operation I am naming Adnan Zurfi as governor of Najaf." 1.44 10. CU JOURNALIST WRITING 1.49 11. MCU (Arabic) NEW NAJAF GOVERNOR, ADNAN ZURFI (LAYING DOWN HIS DEMANDS FOR NAJAF) SAYING: "To respect the rule of law and to disband all the armed militias and to hand over of all weapons. To postpone all pending issues until the handover of power to Iraqis. To hand over security issues to the local police to practice its full authority in applying the law" 2.19 (EU) NAJAF, IRAQ (MAY 5, 2004) (REUTERS) 12. LV/SLV/SV/MCU OF ARMED REBEL SHI'ITE MILITIA TAKING POSITION AT NAJAF CEMETERY (5 SHOTS) 2.38 (U7) NAJAF HOSPITAL, NAJAF, IRAQ ( MAY 6,2004) (REUTERS) NO AUDIO 13. SLV EMERGENCY WARD OF NAJAF HOSPITAL 2.44 14. CU/SV WOUNDED BABY CRYING WHILE BEING TREATED (2 SHOTS) 2.54 15. SV OF WOUNDED IN HOSPITAL (3 SHOTS) 3.09 16. SV/CU OF BANDAGED CHILD ON HOSPITAL BED 3.19 17. MCU DR. AMMAR KASHASH SPEAKING (NO AUDIO) 3.29 18. SV DEAD CHILD BEING UNCOVERED 3.35 19. CU CHILD'S MOTHER CRYING 3.40 20. SV CHILD'S MOTHER COVERING HIS BODY 3.51 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 20th May 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NATURAL WITH ENGLISH AND ARABIC SPEECH
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA8KC7GJVHALI6I4HKE0QYV0G1L
- Story Text: U.S. forces have said they killed 41 members of the
rebel Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr and injured several
more during an attack on the Governor's office in the Iraqi
holiest city of Najaf.
U.S. troops destroyed the office of the radical
Shi'ite leader Moqtada al-Sadr on Thursday (May 6, 2004) in the
Iraqi holy city of Kerbala.
U.S. tanks firing heavy machineguns destroyed the
offices of the rebel cleric before withdrawing from
positions close to the city's main shrines, witnesses said.
A senior coalition military official said six Mehdi
Army fighters loyal to rebel Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr
had been killed and one U.S. soldier wounded in the incursion.
One hospital source said one militiaman was killed and
nine Iraqis, mostly civilians, wounded. Another said four
Iraqis had been wounded. A local resident said the U.S.
forces faced no resistance.
About eight heavy armoured vehicles and six lighter
vehicles had taken up position in the city centre, about
500 metres (yards) from the Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas
shrines, but later pulled back from the area.
The clashes in Kerbala, about 100 km (60 miles)
southwest of Baghdad, coincided with the launch of a U.S.
military operation in the nearby holy city of Najaf, where
troops seized the governor's mansion from militia fighters.
Dr. Ammar Kashsah in Najaf hospital said that they have
received four bodies and thirteen wounded, including
children.
Thousands of U.S.-led troops have been encircling Najaf and
have fought Sadr's men elsewhere in recent days in the
south,
home to the majority Shi'ite population that was oppressed
by Saddam Hussein but has grown impatient with U.S.
occupation.
A senior coalition military official said the
governor's house was taken without a heavy fight, but U.S.
troops killed at least 41 militiamen in other fighting
nearby, east of the Najaf, across the Euphrates River, he
said.
Plumes of smoke were seen rising from a cemetery on the
fringes of Najaf as U.S. helicopters swooped low over the
area. Heavy gunfire could be heard from the cemetery.
U.S. forces have said they will refrain from entering
shrines or offending religious sentiment.
Some correspondents said Sadr's Mehdi Army militia
appeared to be counter-attacking.
Reuters correspondents at the scene saw and heard
fierce battles in and around Najaf and the nearby town of
Kufa. One saw U.S. tanks at the governor's building on
Najaf's main street, several kilometres (miles) from
Shi'ite Islam's holiest shrines.
It was the boldest move yet against an insurgency
launched a month ago by rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. He
demanded Americans leave Iraq but has fallen foul of rival
Shi'ite leaders, irritated by his stationing of arms and
guerrilla fighters in the sacred city.
U.S. forces also advanced to the east of Najaf across
the Euphrates river near Kufa, drawing out fighters and
killing 41 of them, the U.S. official said. Lieutenant
Colonel Pat White, a U.S. officer at the scene, said his
battalion killed about 20 fighters after they moved out of
a mosque at Kufa and fired rocket-propelled grenades,
mortars and rifles.
Thousands of U.S.-led troops have been encircling Najaf
and have fought with Sadr's men in nearby Kerbala and
Diwaniya.
Troops have also fought Sadr's militia in his Sadr City
slum stronghold in Baghdad, killing 10 overnight, officials
said.
Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, appointed
a new governor for Najaf and denounced Sadr as an outlaw
who used the holy sites to launch his rebellion.
The top U.S. official in Iraq called on community
leaders in Najaf to think up ways to end a stand-off with a
rebel Shi'ite cleric wanted by Iraq's U.S.-led authorities.
Paul Bremer spoke as news broke that U.S. forces had
taken over the offices of the Najaf governor amid violence
and shooting.
Bremer introduced the holy Iraqi city's new governor,
Adnan Zurfi.
"The Iraqi authorities and the coalition are
co-operating to reaffirm the rule of law and restore order
to the middle Euphrates region. To further that
co-operation I am naming Adnan Zurfi as governor of Najaf,"
Bremer said.
He also said that the Mehdi Army of the cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr, with which U.S.-led forces have fought over the
last month, must disarm and their leader, wanted for the
murder of another Shi'ite cleric, must face Iraqi justice.
Zurfi said he intended to impose the rule of Iraqi law
in Najaf and demanded the city's militia lay down their
weapons.
"To respect the rule of law and to disband all the
armed militias and to hand over of all weapons. To postpone
all pending issues until the handover of power to Iraqis. To hand over
security issues to the local police to
practice its full authority in applying the law," Zurfi
said.
On Tuesday, Iraqi Shi'ite political leaders called on
Sadr to disarm vowing to forge an Iraqi solution to the
brewing crisis brewing involving the anti-American cleric
and the country's holiest cities.
The move was the first collective effort by Sadr's
political rivals to try to avoid further violence in Najaf
and Kerbala, and regain political ground lost to the
cleric, whose nationalist brand of Islam has gained him
support.
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