Iraq prepares new drive against armed groups

By Haider al-Nasrallah

AMARA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq has sent army and police units to the southern city of Amara for a new crackdown on Shi'ite militias, local officials said on Saturday.

The operation is the latest stage in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's drive to stamp his government's authority on areas of the country previously controlled by Shi'ite militias or Sunni Arab insurgents.

In a statement read on al-Iraqiya television, Maliki said outlaws and criminals were being given their "last chance" to surrender and hand over heavy and medium weapons and bombs in the next four days.

Iraqi tanks were on major streets, security forces patrolled and many checkpoints were set up in Amara, a city of about 250,000 people 300 km (180 miles) southeast of Baghdad which is the capital of Maysan province.

Helicopters dropped leaflets urging residents to stay at home and not to interfere with the operations.

The city is a stronghold of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who agreed to a ceasefire after U.S.-backed Iraqi forces launched a major crackdown on his Mehdi Army militia in Basra in March.

"The decision to undertake the operation has been taken, but the zero hour has not been set yet," Adel al-Muhoudir, governor of Maysan province, told Reuters.

A security official said the operation would target armed groups and some members of the Mehdi Army.

U.S. forces are gradually handing over more security responsibilities to Iraqi forces.

But Iraqi officials say American forces are still needed in the country, which has witnessed sectarian bloodshed, a Sunni Arab insurgency and al Qaeda bombing campaigns since the U.S. invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.

U.S.-IRAQ PACT

U.S. President George W. Bush said on Saturday that he expected to reach a long-term security pact with Iraq, despite Maliki's description of talks on extending the U.S. troop presence as deadlocked.

"If I were a betting man, we'll reach an agreement with the Iraqis," Bush told a news conference in Paris. "Of course we're there at their invitation."

Maliki has improved his standing with crackdowns on the Medhi Army. Iraqi forces took control of Sadr's Baghdad stronghold after a truce was reached with the cleric.

U.S. and Iraqi military officials say al Qaeda is on the run and that its network has been broken in its last Iraqi urban stronghold, the northern city of Mosul.