Iraqi Leaders Try to Defuse Crisis as Fighting Spreads

Iraq’s interim government fought Thursday to maintain its political balance as the rebellion led by a Shiite cleric flared in half a dozen cities.

Here at the epicenter of Iraq’s worst crisis since it regained sovereignty, U.S. troops and their Iraqi allies launched a major assault against militants holed up in the Old City and the Imam Ali Mosque, especially sacred to Shiite Muslims.

Smoke billowed across the city as the fighting spread. Tanks and Humvees rumbled through a cemetery that holds the remains of nearly 2 million people. At least 25 civilians and Iraqi police and soldiers were killed in the assault, Iraqi officials said. About 50 insurgents were reported killed.

At least one U.S. soldier was killed. The unofficial total of U.S. military dead since the March 2003 invasion is about 930.

U.S. Marines, backed by Special Forces and Iraqi officers, raided the empty house of rebel leader Muqtada Sadr. The cleric, who had vowed to fight to the end, was believed to be in the mosque compound with about 1,000 of his fighters.

Spokesmen for Sadr said he was wounded while visiting fighters this morning in Najaf. Heider Turufi said Sadr suffered moderate injuries, one in the chest and two in the legs. Other spokesmen also said the injuries were not life-threatening.

Although the weeklong battle in Najaf remained the key conflict, fighting was growing deadlier elsewhere. The Health Ministry reported at least 157 Iraqi civilians, police and soldiers dead and 600 wounded in the previous day in clashes between Sadr’s Al Mahdi militia and Iraqi and U.S.-led forces. That includes 36 killed in Baghdad and 75 in Kut, a provincial capital 100 miles southeast of the capital.

The increased fighting comes as the U.S.-backed interim government is preparing for a key national political conference Sunday and bracing for a potential backlash from the crackdown in the holy city of Najaf.

Even as they struggled to contain the crisis, interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and key Cabinet ministers reissued an invitation to Sadr and his supporters to abandon violence and join the political process.

“This government calls upon all the armed groups to drop their weapons and rejoin society,” said a statement by Allawi that was read at a news conference in Baghdad attended by several ministers. “The political process is open to all, and everyone is invited to take part in it.”

In Kut, 400 Sadr supporters were killed, injured or taken prisoner by Iraqi police and national guardsmen, Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan said.

After fighting Wednesday with Iraqi police, the militia took over strategic locations in Kut, including three bridges on the Tigris, two police stations and the City Hall, U.S. military said. Backed by an AC-130 gunship, U.S. Special Forces launched raids Wednesday night with Iraqi police and a battalion of Iraqi national guardsmen and reclaimed the territory, American officials said.

They are expecting a counterattack by the militia and plan to send additional U.S. troops to Kut to reinforce the Special Forces and the Iraqi security forces. A U.S. command has been established in the city.

In the Baghdad fighting, “small groups have launched sporadic attacks against police stations, and our police forces are firing back,” said Interior Minister Falah Nakib. “So far there’s no police station that’s been taken over. Some other groups are firing mortar shells at targets, like when they targeted the Ministry of Oil.... We were able to seize a gasoline tanker truck with a capacity of 36,000 liters and it was rigged also with several time bombs. We were able to seize it and defuse it.”

Gasoline stations in Baghdad also have been attacked, he said at the news conference.

Iraqi officials said today that a large group of gunmen abducted a British journalist from his hotel in the southern city of Basra after shooting him twice in the leg. Britain’s Foreign Office told Associated Press that it was investigating the report.

Minister of State Kasim Daoud confirmed that a previously postponed national conference of delegates from Iraq’s 18 provinces as well as civic, religious and tribal leaders would open Sunday despite the clashes. The gathering, seen as a crucial step in building democracy in the nation, is to appoint an interim national assembly and debate Iraq’s political future.

U.S. officials said they didn’t believe the situation in Najaf needed to be resolved before the Iraqi convention and doubted that it would be. Instead, they hoped that Sadr’s militia could be contained to prevent the spread of violence through the Shiite south.

Amid reports this morning that the U.S. and the interim Iraqi government were trying to negotiate a settlement with Sadr, U.S. military officials said there were no immediate plans for more aggressive fighting.

“We understand there may be some kind of political process going on,” Army Maj. David Ollivand said in Najaf.

A Sadr aide in Najaf, Ali Sumaysim, confirmed that negotiations were underway.

In Basra, near the Kuwaiti border, thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets demanding an end to the fighting in Najaf, with slogans and posters criticizing Allawi and his government.

“We condemn the criminal acts done by the occupation forces and the Najaf police against our people in Najaf,” said Hasan Ali Abdul-Wahid, 40, one of the protesters.

“We are against violence and want peace to prevail,” said Umran Taha Mahmood, 32, another protester. “Iyad Allawi wants to wipe out the Sadr movement because it’s the only party that rejects the occupation.”

Along with offering political participation to anyone willing to join peacefully, the government stressed that if Sadr and his followers did not desist they would be destroyed.

“We were surprised by their attack in Najaf against the police station and provincial government building, and we realized these guys are bad guys,” Nakib said. “These attacks were not aimed at resisting the occupation. They are aimed at the Iraqi people.”

Minister of State Daoud said: “We are quite ready, stretching out our hands, calling on all Iraqis to engage themselves in the political process. The Iraqi police and Iraqi national guard did not start the fight. We wanted to deal with everybody in a mature political way.

“We have no intention to arrest Muqtada Sadr,” Daoud said. “The only precondition is that the rule of law should prevail, and these militias who violated the rules and caused this crisis, we are saying once again that everyone should adhere to the law.”

Among the factors that will influence the military campaign is the potential for damage to the mosque in Najaf. Insurgents were using the holy site as cover for their fighting, Iraqi officials charged. There also is concern that the mosque may have been mined or will be destroyed if there is a direct attack.

“They are violating the sanctity of the holy shrine,” Defense Minister Shaalan said. “We are going to get them out of this holy shrine in the manner they deserve. They were firing mortars from inside the holy shrine.”

Shaalan said the Iraqi government eventually would ask foreign forces to leave the country, but said that for now their assistance was needed.

“We are quite keen not to breach the sanctity of this holy shrine,” Shaalan added. “The operations are still going on in this city, and it will go on until these militia come out from the holy dome, whether due to the fighting or because they surrender making use of the amnesty issued by the government.”

Holley and Mazzetti reported from Baghdad and Sanders from Najaf. Special correspondent Othman Ghanim in Basra contributed to this report.