Cleric Al-Sadr blames British forces for Basra bombings

[Dionysos]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...p_040422234413

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqis in Basra vented their rage at the British occupiers they blame for suicide bombings that killed 68 people, while US coalition forces warned insurgents in besieged Fallujah that they had only days to surrender their weapons.

As hundreds of protestors took to the streets of Basra, a South African security guard was shot dead in Baghdad, and tension remained high in both the Shiite south and Sunni Muslim strongholds where fallen Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) drew much of his support.

Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) said Britain had no plans to send more troops to Iraq (news - web sites) to add to the 8,000 already serving alongside 135,000 US soldiers, as France and Poland called for a greater UN role in the war-torn country.

US General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Washington may have to dispatch more troops to counter the growing unrest, less than 10 weeks before the US-led coalition is due to hand over power to Iraqis.

Three hostages -- two Swiss and an Israeli Arab -- were freed from captivity Thursday, a day after a Dane was confirmed as the second hostage murdered in the series of abductions to hit Iraq.

As Basra residents mourned their dead, the US-led coalition blamed Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al-Qaeda network for Wednesday's coordinated bombings, whose victims included 20 schoolchildren.

"It looks like al-Qaeda," said a senior coalition official. "It's got all the hallmarks: it was suicidal, it was spectacular and it was symbolic."

But angry supporters of firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, credited with fueling a deadly rebellion against the occupation this month, marched through Basra blaming the suicide attacks on the British troops who control southern Iraq.

A spokesman for cleric, wanted by the US forces for murder, said he had evidence British troops were involved in the bombings of police installations in and around Basra.

Captain Hisham Hallawi, a spokesman for the British forces, told CNN the accusation was "completely untrue."

US troops were also battling to ease tensions in Fallujah west of Baghdad, where fighting on Wednesday between US marines and insurgents left 36 Iraqis dead, according to US figures.

An American general warned the rebels they had "days not weeks" to turn in their weapons, dismissing arms already surrendered as a load of "junk."

Lieutenant-General James Conway said he believed around 200 hardcore foreign fighters remained in Fallujah and accused them of stoking tensions in the Sunni Muslim bastion.

Since the Americans laid siege to Fallujah three weeks ago, fighting has killed more than 600 Iraqis, according to hospital sources, along with scores of marines.

The escalating violence in Iraq was taking its toll on the reconstruction calendar.

Industrial giant General Electric said it was being forced to delay some reconstruction projects because of the need to protect its personnel in Iraq.

"There has been some delay on projects we were working on because of security concerns," GE spokesman Gary Sheffer told AFP, adding the company's "primary concern is the safety of our people."

He said the US-led coalition authority had "issued some advice to people working in Iraq saying they had to take steps to protect their people."

GE holds some 450 million dollars in Iraqi contracts, mainly to rebuild electrical infrastructure and water treatment plants.

In Washington, US lawmakers pushed President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s administration to flesh out plans for the June 30 handover of sovereignty to an interim government in Iraq.

"With lives being lost and billions of dollars being spent in Iraq, the American people must be assured that we have carefully thought through an Iraq policy that will optimize our prospects for success," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Richard Lugar.

"A detailed plan is necessary to prove to our allies and to Iraqis that we have a strategy and that we are committed to making it work," said Lugar, an Indiana Republican.

Several Asian countries meanwhile beefed up security after letters were received by the Pakistani embassy and South Korean mission in Thailand from a previously unheard of group identifying itself as the "Yellow-Red Overseas Organisation."

Thai authorities said they were taking seriously the letters, which threatened attacks on major facilities in Australia, Japan, Kuwait, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea (news - web sites) and Thailand between April 20 and 30.

With the exception of Pakistan and Kuwait, all the countries listed have been involved in the US-led coalition.

[Dionysos]

btw I don't believe British forces had anything to do with this, I'm just posting the story.

[Ash]

World War I was so much cooler.

Those nasty Brits

[Hey Bubu]

Originally posted by xiannaix
Those nasty Brits

Right? they are trying to disrupt our newly acquiered colony!!!

[USAcommitteeX]

al-Sadr is on a power trip, he's getting a kick out of the Iraqis who are rallying behind him, and wanting to die for him, he is a coward like Saddam claiming that he wants to become a martyr, but given the chance he would rather stay alive, he has bitten off more then he can chew and it will come back to bite him in the ass.

[Krash]

Originally posted by xiannaix
Those nasty Brits

We taught you everything you know

Originally posted by Krash
We taught you everything you know

So why in the world can't you guys figure out which side of the road to drive on?

[Krash]

Originally posted by xiannaix
So why in the world can't you guys figure out which side of the road to drive on?

Why can't you guys spell?

Originally posted by Krash
Why can't you guys spell?

indeed - a question I ask myself (and my wife) quite often