Iraqi police raid Mehdi Army strongholds

BAGHDAD-Iraqi police raided strongholds of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army in the southern city of Kut on Wednesday after the militia broke a ceasefire and clashed with security forces a day earlier.The city's police chief said at least 11 people were killed in Tuesday's gunbattles in which U.S. special forces called in air strikes after Iraqi authorities asked them for help.With U.S. forces already stretched by an upsurge in violence in Iraq since January, such ceasefire violations are a worrying development. U.S. commanders have credited the ceasefire with sharply reducing sectarian bloodshed that threatened civil war.But the commanders say security gains can only be cemented by progress towards national reconciliation. Last month parliament passed an amnesty law hailed by Washington as a major step towards healing rifts between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims.The law is seen as benefiting many Sunni Arabs held as security detainees. Giving the first figures, President Jalal Talabani's office said 1,293 prisoners had been released as of Wednesday.Iraqi jails hold about 23,000 prisoners. A day after saying he would quit, the top U.S. commander for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Admiral William Fallon, visited Baghdad. Fallon resigned after a magazine reported he was pushing President George W. Bush to avoid war with Iran."He was in Baghdad this morning. As far as we know it was just a regular visit to Baghdad," said U.S. military spokesman Navy Lieutenant Michael Street.In Kut, police officer Lieutenant-Colonel Sudad Jamil said police had regained control of four districts where the Mehdi Army had a strong presence and were going house-to-house hunting for gunmen who had taken part in Tuesday's fighting.
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