Standoff in Shiite Center Eases

A confrontation between American troops and supporters of a militant Shiite cleric eased Sunday after U.S. forces withdrew from around a house formerly used by the Muslim leader and handed over control of the area to Iraqi police.

The troops, who had surrounded the house and several nearby buildings Saturday, pulled back after an early morning raid, neighbors said.

The Americans searched the buildings, apparently for the cleric, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hassani, and his supporters, who are accused of killing three American soldiers in a shootout last week. No suspects were found, the witnesses said.

By Sunday afternoon, the U.S. military had removed many of its roadblocks from the area.

“We’ve contained the situation,” said an official with the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority who requested anonymity. “We and the Iraqi police are in full control of the city.”

Separately, two U.S. soldiers were killed and one was wounded when their patrol was attacked outside the northern city of Kirkuk on Saturday by assailants using small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, a military spokesman said Sunday. Their deaths brought to 338 the number of Americans killed in Iraq since the war began March 20.

And in the central Iraq town of Fallouja, where opposition to the U.S.-led occupation remains high, a U.S. military ammunition truck exploded Sunday after being attacked. No casualties were reported in the explosion, which attracted dozens of cheering onlookers.

The confrontation in Karbala began last week when armed supporters of Hassani battled U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police who were attempting to enforce an emergency curfew imposed after clashes between rival Shiite Muslim groups.

In the ensuing gunfight, two Iraqi police officers and three U.S. soldiers, including a military police battalion commander, were killed. Several Hassani supporters also died in the shootout.

On Sunday, shortly after midnight, U.S. forces raided the rented house being used by Hassani and several nearby homes and schools, according to neighbors. The searches lasted until about 4 a.m.

Some neighbors expressed relief that Hassani’s supporters appeared to have fled the area. “We don’t support such false clerics,” said Ismail Khaleel, 71, who lives next door to the house used by Hassani supporters. “These are terrorists and extremists. We don’t want them in Karbala.”

U.S. officials said Sunday that they have detained 40 people since Thursday. Thirteen have been released; the rest remain in custody, mostly for violating the emergency curfew.

Though some worried that the incident would ignite already simmering tensions between U.S. forces and Iraq’s Shiite majority, American officials downplayed the Karbala gunfight as a “criminal act” rather than a religious uprising.

They dismissed Hassani as a relatively unknown cleric with fewer than 100 followers and a “loopy” reputation.

“He is someone who seems to think he has a hotline to the 12th imam,” a coalition official said, referring to a historic figure who Shiites believe will reappear to usher in a just world.

Nevertheless, U.S. forces were taking the threat seriously and seeking to send a message that any attempts to rile Shiite communities will not be tolerated. The American military has taken a similarly firm stance against Muqtader Sadr, a young Shiite leader whose assassinated father is revered by millions.

Earlier this month, followers of Sadr clashed with U.S.-appointed members of the local city council in a Baghdad slum known as Sadr City, named for his father. U.S. officials arrested several supporters, accusing them of attempting to take over the council.

American investigators do not believe Sadr is behind the confrontation between U.S. forces and Hassani, but they continue to investigate possible links between the two clerics, officials said.

Investigators are also looking into other allegations against Sadr, including accusations that he and his followers stole vehicles and attacked two Shiite shrines in Karbala, holding some hostages.

Sadr has denounced the allegations against him, saying he is being attacked because of his criticism of the U.S. occupation and his attempt to organize a new Iraqi government.

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Sanders reported from Baghdad and Salman from Karbala.

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In stories after April 9, 2004, Shiite cleric Muqtader Sadr is correctly referred to as Muqtada Sadr.

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