Iraq's Maliki says he'll fight militia to the end

BASRA, Iraq-Iraq's U.S.-backed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed on Thursday that security forces would battle Shi'ite militia in Basra "to the end",despite huge demonstrations to demand his resignation.Mehdi Army fighters loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr remained in control of much of Basra, Iraq's second biggest city and main oil hub, defying a three-day government offensive that has led to violence spreading across the south and Baghdad.Saboteurs blew up one of Iraq's two main oil export pipelines from Basra, cutting at least a third of the exports from the southern oilfields, a Southern Oil Company official said. U.S. oil prices briefly rose more than $1 a barrel.Maliki, who has traveled to Basra to oversee the crackdown, told tribal leaders it was sending "a message to all gangs that the state is in charge of the country"."We entered this battle with determination and we will continue to the end. No retreat. No talks. No negotiations."More than 130 people have been killed and hundreds wounded since the government began the operation on Tuesday, exposing deep divisions between powerful factions within Iraq's majority Shi'ite community.The clashes have all but wrecked a truce declared last August by Sadr, which Washington had said helped curb violence.The government says it is fighting "outlaws", but Sadr's followers say political parties in Maliki's government are using military force to marginalize their rivals ahead of local elections due by October.
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As in the days of Noah....