Clashes continue in Najaf, Karbala; new images amplify abuse

By: Ismail Zabeeh

HOLY CITY OF KARBALA, Iraq: US forces have pulled out of downtown Karbala on Friday but they said patrols in the city would continue, meanwhile American military said 18 fighters of Moqtada As-Sadr have been killed in fighting near the holy shrines of Imam Al-Hussein and Hazrat Abbas (peace be on them) in this holy city.

Fighting between American forces and As-Sadr's militia also was heavy in the holy city of Najaf and neighboring Kufa. Explosions rocked the center of Najaf, near local government buildings, and Friday prayers were canceled because of the violence. A huge fire raged in a vegetable market.

US forces say the city's Imam Hussein and Hazrat Abbas (peace be on them) shrines are being used by militiamen as firing positions or protective cover.

According to details, US forces withdrew from the Al-Mukhayam mosque in the center of Karbala, the scene of fierce fighting last week during which coalition forces ousted the militiamen who were using it as a base of operations.

A military source says the pullout happened hours after a major military operation into Karbala was postponed, to allow for negotiations aimed at ending the standoff with the As-Sadr militia.

Colonel Bishop said the departure from the Mukhayam Mosque was intended to “allow time for the political process to go forward.”

Wednesday, tribal sheiks in Karbala met with the commander of the First Brigade of the First Armored Division, Col. Pete Mansoor, to try to persuade the Americans to declare a cease-fire and withdraw their forces, the colonel said. But such a cease-fire would have been unilateral. In the end, the colonel said, he rejected the request of the sheiks.

Late Thursday, an Iraqi driver for a camera crew of the Al-Jazeera television network was shot in his hotel in Karbala during a battle between US forces and militiamen.

Near Baghdad, 450 Iraqis were released from the Abu Gharib jail as new photographs and shots from a video of alleged abuse and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners were published in The Washington Post's Friday editions. The newspaper reported that some prisoners at Abu Gharib were ridden like animals, forced to curse their religion or force-fed pork or liquor and required to retrieve their food from toilets.

The newspaper said the material, including secret sworn statements from prisoners, came from evidence being assembled for possible criminal charges against US soldiers. The Post said it obtained hundreds more pictures and several digital videos of the abuse. “They said we will make you wish to die and it will not happen,” the newspaper quoted one detainee, identified as Ameen Saeed Al-Sheik, as saying.

Freed detainees kissed the ground and kneeled to pray after walking out of the police compound in Baqouba, 50 miles northeast of Baghdad.

The photographs depict a US soldier apparently preparing to strike a shackled detainee, a hooded inmate collapsed with his wrists handcuffed to the railing and a baton-wielding soldier appearing to order a naked detainee covered in a brown substance to walk a straight line, though his ankles are shackled. In one photo, a cornered inmate is cowering as a soldier tries to restrain a large black dog with both hands. In another, a soldier appears to be kneeling on naked detainees.

A military jury convicted a US soldier Friday of desertion for leaving his combat unit in Iraq in protest of an "oil-driven" war. Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia of the Florida National Guard testified that he disobeyed orders to return to his unit because he planned to seek status as a conscientious objector. Mejia said he became upset after seeing civilians hit by gunfire and watching an Iraqi boy die after confusion over which military doctor should treat him.

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Karbala Ayat calls for peaceful defense of holy sites

HOLY CITY OF KARBALA/ WASHINGTON: Ayatullah As-Sayyid Muhammad Taqi Al-Modarresi from the holy city of Karbala has said that some of the powers are trying to exploit the situation in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala for political reasons irrespective of the holiness of the two cities and interests of their residents.

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