3 killed, 11 hurt in U.S.-backed Iraqi raids

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi forces backed by U.S. helicopters swept through one of the oldest areas of Baghdad on Friday in house-to-house fighting that killed at least three Iraqis and wounded 11, police said.

U.S. helicopter gunships flew over the poor mostly Sunni-Arab Fadhil area to support the Iraqi ground forces, but did not open fire on the crowded neighborhoods of one-story homes, said police Lt. Ali Muhsin.

He said fighting in the narrow streets and alleys with suspected insurgents armed with rifles and machine guns killed one Iraqi soldier and two civilians, and that four Iraqi soldiers and seven citizens were wounded.

State-run Iraqiya TV said 43 suspected insurgents were taken into custody during searches of many homes, but it wasn’t immediately known if any militants had been killed or wounded.

The U.S. military confirmed the raid, saying it was aimed at an insurgent “safe haven” and being conducted with U.S. support. Fadhil is about one mile from the Green Zone, the heavily fortified area on the Tigris River where Iraq’s parliament, U.S. soldiers and American and British embassies are located.

In addition, U.S. forces conducted separate raids in other areas of central Iraq, killing two insurgents and wounding an Iraqi woman the militants were using as a “human shield,” the U.S. command said.

Scattered sectarian violence elsewhere killed 12 other people, while gunmen kidnapped the Sunni head of one of Iraq’s leading soccer clubs, officials said.

The U.S. military also said an American soldier was killed Thursday during combat in Baghdad. At least 2,886 American service members have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Meanwhile, there was no sign that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was having any luck stopping a widening revolt within his divided government.

Two senior Sunni politicians have joined prominent Shiite lawmakers and Cabinet members in criticizing his policies. Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi said he wanted to see al-Maliki’s government gone and another “understanding” for a new coalition put in place with guarantees that ensure collective decision-making.

“There is a clear deterioration in security and everything is moving in the wrong direction,” the Sunni leader told the AP. “This situation must be redressed as soon as possible. If it continues, the country will plunge into civil war.”

Deputy Prime Minister Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie, also a Sunni, argued that the Shiite prime minister’s government failed to curb the spread of sectarian politics.

The boycott by 30 lawmakers and five Cabinet ministers loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was to protest al-Maliki’s meeting with President Bush in Jordan on Thursday. The Sadrists said the meeting amounted to an affront to the Iraqi people.

Appeal for al-Sadr block to end boycott
Al-Maliki appealed to the Sadrists to end their boycott and admonished them for an action that he said violated the commitment expected from partners in his 6-month-old coalition government.

In an interview, Falah Hassan Shanshal, a Shiite lawmaker with the Sadrist group, said: “There is nothing new regarding our stance.”

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