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Iraq Vowing Crackdown In Violent Diyala Province

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By LORI HINNANT, The Associated Press

Published: December 10, 2007

BAGHDAD - Iraq's defense minister promised Sunday to wage a new crackdown northeast of Baghdad in a volatile province where militants have been driven by the influx of U.S. troops to the capital.

Suicide attacks have killed more than 20 people in the last three days in Diyala province, a tribal patchwork of Sunni Arabs, Shiites and Kurds that stretches from Baghdad to the border with Iran.

Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi said preparations had begun for a fresh military operation in the provincial capital Baqouba, about 35 miles from Baghdad.

"If we succeed in controlling areas of Diyala close to Baghdad, the rate of incidents in Baghdad decreases by 95 percent," al-Obeidi said.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, meanwhile, arrived in southern Iraq on a surprise visit to the southern city of Basra, signaling what London hopes will be the transition from a military mission in Iraq to one with a stronger economic component.

"The great venture that started with all the difficulties we face, that cost casualties, means we have managed now to get Iraq into a far better position," Brown said.

The British plan to hand over security responsibilities for the oil-rich area to the Iraqis in the coming weeks.

Violence has declined sharply in Iraq since June, when the influx of U.S. troops began to gain momentum. Also credited with the decline were the freeze in activities by the Mahdi Army militia, led by the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and the decision by tens of thousands of Iraqis - most of them Sunni Arab - to join the fight against al-Qaida.

As Shiite militias drove thousands of Sunnis from Baghdad and other areas, many Sunnis have reached out to Americans as protection against the rival sect.

On Sunday, Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president said he supported an agreement for a long-term U.S. presence, signaling a rift between the moderate mainstream of the once-dominant Sunni Arab community and hard-liners.

"There is no doubt that Iraq needs a strong and honest partner today that has the ability and is ready to help Iraq," Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi said. "Yes, I am for an agreement with the United States of America, but this does not mean that Iraq will not be able to sign bilateral agreements with other countries in the world."

SUNDAY'S VIOLENCE

BAGHDAD

•About 6:15 p.m., two mortar shells slammed into the Karrada neighborhood, injuring two residents. Only one shell exploded.

•About 6:30 p.m., a mortar shell slammed into the Bob al-Sham area in Rashidiyah, killing one resident and injuring two.

•Police found five unidentified bodies in Baghdad: one each in al-Shaab, Sadr, Amil, Saidiyah and Hurriyah.

DIYALA

•A major crimes unit raided a house south of Baqouba on Sunday. During the raid, the police killed two men. Other men in the area who were watching the incident clashed with police, killing a policeman, injuring three others and destroying 10 police cars.

The police called for U.S. military support. Three residents were injured by aerial fire, an Iraqi police source said.

BABIL

•About 1:30 p.m. Sunday, a roadside bomb targeted and killed Brig. Gen. Qais al-Mamouri, Babil province police chief, and injured two others in northern Hilla.

KIRKUK

•A roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi police vehicle in Kirkuk on Sunday, injuring a policeman.

Source: McClatchey News Service

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