Iraq Notebook
Raid fails to seize al-Sadr

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NAJAF, Iraq — Iraqi security forces staged an unsuccessful raid yesterday to seize rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American Shiite Muslim leader whose militia has been fighting coalition troops since Thursday.

In their first such move against him, members of the Iraqi National Guard and police went to arrest al-Sadr at his home in Najaf near the sacred Imam Ali shrine, the base from which he had urged followers to rise up and eject U.S. forces.

"We surrounded the house, but he was not at home," said Gen. Ghalib Hadi Jazaery, Najaf's chief of police, who said his officers were enforcing a warrant issued last year against al-Sadr in the murder of a rival cleric.

"We want to clean up this city from this devil," Jazaery said.

There was confusion over who ordered the arrest attempt. U.S. officials said they were not involved in the raid.

One Iraqi National Guard commander, Lt. Col. Aqeel Khalil, accused Jazaery of grabbing 130 of his men for the raid without authorization. He said a guardsman was killed, nine were injured and 17 were missing.

U.S. continues to fight al-Sadr loyalists

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Clashes between U.S.-led forces and fighters loyal to Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr continued for a third day in the holy city of Najaf and the large Shiite slum in Baghdad called Sadr City, where gunmen set up illegal checkpoints and ran openly through the streets with weapons.

Officials at three Iraqi hospitals in Najaf said 23 civilians were killed and 121 wounded in yesterday's fighting. No American deaths were reported.

The United States, which on Friday said it had killed about 350 insurgents in the first two days of the current fighting, announced no figures on enemy dead yesterday.
 
An uneasy calm settled over Najaf after dark. Members of al-Sadr's militia left the vast Wadi al-Salam cemetery, where they had taken up positions during the past three days to launch rockets and grenades.

U.S. Marines said large caches of weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades and explosive-making materials, were found in the cemetery.

Iraqi officials close Al-Jazeera newsroom

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Police ordered Al-Jazeera's employees out of their newsroom yesterday after the Iraqi government accused the Arab satellite channel of inciting violence and closed its office for 30 days.

Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib said the closure was intended to give the station "a chance to re-adjust their policy against Iraq."

"They have been showing a lot of crimes and criminals on TV, and they transfer a bad picture about Iraq and about Iraqis and encourage criminals to increase their activities," he said. "We want to protect our people."

Al-Jazeera officials said the closure was an ominous violation of freedom of the press. Haider al-Mulla, a lawyer for Al-Jazeera, said the channel would respect the decision but study its legal options.

Amnesty granted for low-level crimes

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi signed an amnesty yesterday intended to persuade militants fighting a 15-month-old insurgency to put down their weapons and join government efforts to rebuild the country.

But the law pardons only minor criminals, not killers or terrorists, and appeared unlikely to dampen the violence, as some insurgent leaders called it "insignificant."

The long-delayed amnesty, coupled with a tough emergency law passed last month, was supposed to help end the violence by coaxing nationalist guerrillas to the government's side.

The amnesty applies to minor crimes — such as weapons possession, hiding intelligence about terror attacks or harboring terrorists — and appears intended to persuade people with information on attacks to share it with police.

"This amnesty is not for people ... who have killed. Those people will be brought to justice," Allawi said. Rape, kidnapping, looting and terror attacks also are excluded.

Iraqi officials earlier said the amnesty might cover those who killed U.S. and other coalition troops. Later drafts ruled it out.

U.S. soldier convicted in death of cowherd

HONOLULU — A U.S. soldier who shot a handcuffed Iraqi cowherd in the back of the head has been convicted in Iraq of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison.

Pfc. Edward Richmond, convicted Thursday, also was given a dishonorable discharge from the Army.

Richmond, 20, of Gonzales, La., had initially been charged with unpremeditated murder for shooting the man Feb. 28 near Taal Al Jai. An Army court-martial panel in Tikrit made up of five officers and five enlisted soldiers reduced the charge to voluntary manslaughter.

According to the Army, Richmond shot Kadir in the back of the head from about six feet away after the man stumbled.

Richmond testified that he didn't know Kadir's hands were secured behind his back and said he thought the Iraqi was lunging at another U.S. soldier.

Blast kills soldier based in Moses Lake

LANDSTUHL, Germany — A Moses Lake-based soldier serving in Iraq died from wounds he suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his patrol, officials said.

Spc. Donald R. McCune, 20, of Ypsilanti, Mich., died Thursday from injuries sustained the day before in Balad, Iraq, according to the Department of Defense.

McCune was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, 81st Brigade Combat Team.