IRAQI ARMY FAILS TO STOP VIOLENCE IN BASRA

President Bush called the Iraqi Army's offense against the Mehadi militia in Basra a "positive moment," but the President spoke too soon because now there are reports the Iraqi Army are bogged down and have had to call for help from the United States military in trying to stop the violence in Basra, the second largest city in Iraq.

Shiite leader al-Sadr defies Iraq gov't
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer 12 minutes ago

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq;_ylt=AvlHgh91Iuhuq3tvRyaExZdX6GMA

Anti-American Shiite militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers Saturday to defy government orders to surrender their weapons, as U.S. jets struck Shiite extremists near Basra to bolster a faltering Iraqi offensive against gunmen in the city.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki acknowledged he may have miscalculated by failing to foresee the strong backlash that his offensive, which began Tuesday, provoked in areas of Baghdad and other cities where Shiite militias wield power.

Al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, nonetheless vowed to remain in Basra until government forces wrest control from militias, including al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. He called the fight for control of Basra "a decisive and final battle."

British ground troops, who controlled the city until handing it over to the Iraqis last December, also joined the battle for Basra, firing artillery Saturday for the first time in support of Iraqi forces.

Iraqi authorities have given Basra extremists until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons after an initial 72-hour ultimatum to hand them over was widely ignored.

But a defiant al-Sadr called on his followers Saturday to ignore the order, saying that his Mahdi Army would turn in its weapons only to a government that can "get the occupier out of Iraq," referring to the Americans.

The order was made public by Haidar al-Jabiri, a member of the influential political commission of the Sadrist movement.

Residents of Basra contacted by telephone said Mahdi militiamen were manning checkpoints Saturday in their neighborhood strongholds. The sound of intermittent mortar and machine gun fire rang out across the city, as the military headquarters at a downtown hotel came under repeated fire.