U.S. forces extend Baghdad push to militia haven

By Dean Yates and Claudia Parsons

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than 1,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops met no resistance on Sunday when they searched homes for illegal weapons and carried out patrols in a Shi'ite militia bastion in Baghdad.

The operations in Sadr City, stronghold of the Mehdi Army of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, could test Iraqi and U.S. determination to enforce a security crackdown regarded as a last attempt to stop Iraq sliding into all-out sectarian civil war.

"Deliberate clearing operations have begun in Sadr City," said U.S. military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver. More raids will follow in the coming days, he said.

A U.S. military statement said 600 American and 550 Iraqi security forces backed by American Stryker armored vehicles took part in the operation. It said no one was detained nor any weapons caches found. There was no violence.

The young firebrand cleric, a key supporter of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, has criticized the crackdown and said it will fail as long as U.S. forces are involved.

Raids had been expected in Sadr City after U.S. and Iraqi commanders met community leaders last week to give them advance warning of the incursions and to seek their support.

Many members of the Mehdi Army are either lying low or have left Baghdad, unlike in 2004 when the militia twice rose up against American forces. Washington calls the Mehdi Army the greatest threat to Iraq's security.

"I don't know whether he has had a change of heart, but certainly there is a change in tactics," U.S. ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad told CNN, referring to Sadr.

"He is lying low, many of his supporters have left, particularly the commanders (in Sadr City)." The whereabouts of Sadr himself are unknown.

Some Shi'ite officials outside Sadr's movement say the militia wants to avoid a battle to protect the cleric's political gains. Sadr's movement holds a quarter of the parliamentary seats in Maliki's ruling Shi'ite Alliance.

Garver said Sunday's operation was the largest in the teeming Shi'ite slum since Operation Imposing Law was launched three weeks ago.

Lieutenant-General Raymond Odierno, the number two U.S. commander in Iraq, said around 700 Shi'ite militants had been arrested in the past two months. Many were Mehdi Army members, he told CNN.

JOINT SECURITY STATION

U.S. military officials said a Joint Security Station with Iraqi and U.S. forces would be established in Sadr City soon. Some 30 such stations will be set up in Baghdad, where U.S. and Iraqi forces will live side-by-side in an attempt to ensure cleared areas are not retaken by militants.

Maliki said he might announce a cabinet reshuffle within two weeks. He is expected to replace under-performing ministers in a revamp he has promised for several months.