CNN REPORTS: MUQTADA A-SADR TO US: "BACK OFF OR ALL OPTIONS ARE OPEN"

While Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice makes a surprise visit to Baghdad, the rebel cleric Muqutada al-Sadr has issued a warning to the the US to "back off or all options are open."

Iraqi lawmaker to U.S.: Back off or 'all options are open'
Story Highlights
NEW: U.S. military shuts down Green Zone as Condoleezza Rice arrives
Lawmaker: U.S. launching "dirty" political conspiracy against Shiite cleric
Speaker calls on fighters to "offer the head of an American as a gift" to Bush
Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatens "war" against Iraqi government

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/04/20/iraq.main/index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- An Iraqi lawmaker warned the U.S. military Sunday that if it doesn't immediately end its attacks on Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army, "all options are open to us."
Fawzi Tarzi, a Sadrist member of parliament, made his remarks as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Baghdad. His comments also follow airstrikes and firefights Saturday that left seven Shiite militants dead in Baghdad's Sadr City.
"Let it be known that disbanding the Mehdi Army will mean the end of [Prime Minister Nuri] al-Maliki's government, and therefore the siege of Sadr City and Shula should end immediately or all options are open to us," Tarzi said. "There is a fierce military and media campaign and a dirty political conspiracy planned and supported by the occupier against the Sadr trend."
Sadr City has been the scene of many clashes in recent weeks between U.S. and Iraqi security forces and the Mehdi Army.
Tarzi called on humanitarian organizations and the world media to visit Sadr City to see what he described as a "humanitarian tragedy." The Baghdad neighborhood is plagued with "random airstrikes and raids," which are causing a deteriorating humanitarian situation, he said.
More than 400 people have died and 1,300 have been wounded in the attacks, Tarzi said, citing hospital figures.
Al-Sadr on Saturday gave his "last warning" to the Iraqi government that he would "declare a war" unless U.S. and Iraqi forces stop their assaults on his followers.
Loudspeakers at Sadr City mosques announced al-Sadr's warning Saturday evening, calling for followers to fight the "occupier," a witness said.
According to the Interior Ministry, Saturday's Sadr City clashes killed nine Iraqis and wounded 15 others.
The Interior Ministry said Sadr City clashes continued into Sunday morning.
Al-Sadr's threat was issued the same day that a man claiming to be the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq urged his fighters to launch an offensive against U.S. forces in the next few weeks.
The speaker was identified as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, on several Islamist Web sites that posted the recording.
Within the the next month, militants should "offer the head of an American as a gift to the deceitful [President] Bush," he said.
The speaker also called for attacks on members of Iraqi awakening councils, a movement of mostly Sunnis who have joined forces with the U.S. and Iraqi governments in battling Islamic jihadists loyal to al Qaeda in Iraq.
The U.S. military shut down the International Zone on Sunday after U.S. officials announced Rice's arrival. Rice met with Iraqi leaders and U.S. officials in the heavily fortified district that houses U.S. and Iraqi governmental offices.
The military said it was shutting down the area, also known as the Green Zone, for "force protection purposes."
Witnesses said they saw vehicles being turned away from checkpoints near the zone.
Rice had announced she would depart Saturday for Bahrain and then on to Kuwait for Tuesday's Iraqi neighbors conference.
Other developments
• Gunmen set up a fake checkpoint Sunday and ambushed a minivan carrying college students in the northern city of Baquba. The gunmen shot and killed one person and wounded two others, Baquba police said. They kidnapped three students and a driver, police said.
• Authorities imposed a curfew in Nasiriya on Saturday after sporadic clashes killed four police officers and 16 militia members, an Interior Ministry official said.