WASHINGTON POST: US AND IRAQI FORCES ENGAGED IN FIERCE FIGHTING IN SADR CITY

Iraqis, U.S. Intensify Actions in Sadr City

By Sholnn FreemanWashington Post Foreign ServiceSunday, April 13, 2008; A15

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/12/AR2008041200764_pf.html

BAGHDAD, April 12 -- Iraqi and U.S. military forces on Saturday pushed deeper into the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad, an area largely controlled by Shiite militiamen loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

A curfew imposed on Sadr City more than a week ago was lifted, and residents appeared on the streets as shops reopened, despite the large presence of U.S. and Iraqi security forces.

Leaders of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia reported that U.S. and Iraqi forces had split the area into at least two sections and were placing concrete barriers at a major intersection. American and Iraqi snipers patrolled from the rooftops of nearby buildings.

The Mahdi Army leaders also said Iraqi and American security forces had massed outside a home in Sadr City where a memorial service was being held for cleric Riyadh al-Nouri, a senior Sadr aide assassinated in the holy city of Najaf on Friday.

"The siege is still on," said Abu Haider, a Mahdi Army leader in Sadr City.

Abu Haider called the cancellation of the curfew a propaganda ploy and said government forces had opened just one entrance point for traffic into Sadr City, home to an estimated 2 million people.

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