You sure covered it there .. Sadr and Badr .. er .. er .. was an error going in .. ouch ..
Charred body found in US embassy in Belgrade Updated 1 hour 0 minutes ago
Set on fire: Serbian protesters attack the US embassy in Belgrade (AFP)
A US official in Washington says a charred body has been found in the US embassy in Belgrade, which was attacked and set on fire this morning by Serb rioters protesting at Kosovo's declaration of independence.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that all American personnel at the embassy had been accounted for and there was nothing to suggest the body was an embassy employee.
Mr McCormack could not say that all embassy personnel who were not US citizens were accounted for.
William Wanland, a spokesman for the US Embassy in Belgrade, told CNN the body appeared to have been a protester.
"It appeared to have been a protester who was caught in the fire," he said, adding the death had not been caused by any interaction with US security forces at the embassy.
Mr Wanland said about 70 American diplomats served in the Belgrade embassy.
The US ambassador to the United Nations says he's "outraged" at the actions of the rioters.
The storming of the US embassy came during a state-backed rally to protest at Kosovo's secession attended by around 200,000 people, which was otherwise peaceful.
Some rooms at the embassy were set on fire.
Police were not protecting the building, which had been closed and boarded up after rioters stoned it earlier in the week.
Black smoke billowed out of the embassy. Papers and chairs were thrown out of the windows, with doors wedged in the window frames and burning.
One protester climbed up to the first floor of the building, ripped the Stars and Stripes off its pole and briefly put up a Serbian flag in its place.
Some protesters jumped up and down on the embassy balcony, holding up a Serbian flag as the crowd below of about 1,000 people cheered them on, shouting "Serbia, Serbia".
The rioters were mainly young men, some of whom wore balaclavas and scarves to hide their faces.
They had attacked the building with sticks and metal bars and destroyed two guard boxes outside.
Protesters ripped some metal grilles from the embassy windows and also tore a handrail off the building's entrance and used it as a battering ram against the main door. .. - ABC/AFP/Reuters
BAGHDAD (AP) — Anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced Friday that he has extended a cease-fire order to his Shiite militia for another six months, giving Iraq a chance to continue its fragile recovery from brutal sectarian violence.
His message was delivered by Shiite clerics during prayer services in mosques dominated by followers of the black-turbaned cleric.
"According to an order by Sayyid Muqtada, activities of the Mahdi Army will be suspended ... for another six-month period," al-Sadr aide Hazim al-Aaraji said, using an honorific for al-Sadr during his sermon at the Kazimiyah mosque in Baghdad.
Al-Sadr's decision to halt the activities of his powerful militia for up to six months last August was one of three critical steps widely credited with bringing the Iraqi death toll down more than 60 percent in recent months.
The other pieces of the puzzle are U.S. troop reinforcements and the move by American-backed Sunni Arab fighters to switch allegiances and start working against al-Qaida in Iraq.
Al-Sadr has said he needs time to reorganize his militia and the announcement was widely seen as a bid to bolster his image as a major player in Iraqi politics as Shiite leaders jockey for power ahead of an anticipated U.S. withdrawal.
Sheik Sadiq al-Essawi read the instructions in the Mahdi Army's Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City after opening the envelope that was sent to Sadrist clerics Thursday.
Al-Sadr said the freeze was extended until the "15th of Shaban," a reference to the Islamic month before Ramadan, which would mean mid-August.
The U.S. military said the decision would allow American and Iraqi troops to focus "more intensively" on the fight against al-Qaida in Iraq.
"This extension of his August 2007 pledge of honor to halt attacks is an important commitment that can broadly contribute to further improvements in security for all Iraqi citizens," the military said in a statement. "It will also foster a better opportunity for national reconciliation."
The military command added that it was open to dialogue with the Sadrists and promised to treat members of the militia who honor the pledge "with respect and restraint" while cracking down on "criminals who violate the law and dishonor the commitment made by al-Sayyid Muqtada."
American troops have continued to raid Shiite groups alleged to be supported and trained by Iran and splintered off from al-Sadr's militia. That has angered some followers of al-Sadr, who also are frustrated with the Iraqi government, and they had argued an end to the cease-fire.
According to an Associated Press count, at least 609 Iraqi civilians and members of security forces died in Iraq last month, compared to 1,920 killed in January 2007.
Al-Sadr issued his order to his fighters to stand down on Aug. 29, days after deadly clashes in the holy city of Karbala between the Mahdi Army and the rival Badr militia of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, the country's largest Shiite party and a U.S. partner.
Involvement in fighting among Shiites was chipping away at the young cleric's reputation as an uncompromising nationalist leader seeking to restore Iraq's full sovereignty and undermining his bid to become a national leader.
Aides at the time said the cease-fire was designed to stop a Shiite rift from spiraling out of control and to weed out infiltrators in his militia's ranks.
Violence continued Friday as police reported at least 12 people were killed in four bombings.
The deadliest of the bombings was a suicide attack that killed four people as worshippers left a Sunni mosque at the end of Friday prayers in the Anbar province city of Amiriyah, west of the capital.
A bomb hidden under a horse-drawn cart exploded in downtown Baghdad, killing three civilians and prompting a ban on carts in the capital.
Hours later, an explosive-laden car blew up in a parking lot in the predominantly Shiite area of Karradah in central Baghdad, killing a man and two teenage boys and wounding seven people, police said. A booby-trapped car being towed by police blew up in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, killing two policemen and wounding four others, police said.
The U.S. military said Iraqi soldiers discovered two mass graves Thursday in the area around Baqouba, the capital of the volatile Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. One held the bodies of 15 men, including an Iraqi soldier identified by his army ID card. The bodies of six men and three women were found in the other.
Following Friday's services in Sadr City, thousands of worshippers rallied outside against the republication by Danish newspapers of a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad — one of 12 cartoons that sparked major protests in Muslim countries in 2006. Protesters also took to the streets in the Shiite holy cities of Kufa and Najaf.
Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.
The protesters laid U.S., Danish and Israeli flags on the ground and walked over them.
Al-Essawi, the Sadrist cleric, demanded that the Iraqi government break off relations with Denmark.
"The dirty hands have turned again to assault our great Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, by their cartoon drawings, they did it again because there is no one to deter them," al-Essawi said in a statement.
Associated Press writer Hamid Ahmed contributed to this report.
Kurdish troops surround Turks in worst confrontation yet in Iraq
Leila Fadel and Yasseen Taha | McClatchy Newspapers last updated: February 21, 2008 07:52:44 PM
BAGHDAD — Iraqi Kurdish troops on Thursday encircled Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq and threatened to open fire in the most serious standoff between the two nation's forces since Turkey threatened late last year to go after guerrillas from the Kurdistan Workers Party sheltering in Iraq.
The standoff began when Turkish troops in tanks and armored vehicles left one of five bases they've had in Iraq since 1997 and moved to control two main roads in Dohuk province, Iraqi officials said.
Kurdish soldiers from the peshmerga militia, which is loyal to the Kurdish Regional Government, moved to stop them. For an hour and a half, the two sides faced off before the Turkish soldiers retreated to their base, which is about 27 miles northeast of the city of Dohuk. The peshmerga surrounded the base and remained there late Thursday.
The Turkish troop movement was accompanied by artillery and airstrikes that targeted mountain areas held by rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is known by its initials as the PKK. A spokesman for the peshmerga, Jabar Yawar, said the shelling began at about 11 a.m. and continued past midnight. Two bridges were knocked out over the Great Zab River, he said.
"This is a matter of the sovereignty of Iraq and the unity of Iraq," said Falah Bakir, the head of the foreign relations department of the regional government. "We hope that there will be no clashes — the Kurdistan Regional Government has done enough to show our goodwill to Turkey."
Bakir said the regional government has tightened security at checkpoints, airports and hospitals to stop PKK movements, but that the Turkish military has continued its buildup. He called for the Iraqi central government and U.S. military to step in to stop what he called Turkey's "abnormal movements."
In Baghdad, Iraqi government officials held tense meetings with American civilian and military officials to stem the crisis in one of the only peaceful areas of Iraq.
"We have to do something," said a senior Iraqi official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue. "We cannot keep quiet and keep digging our heads in the sand."
The growing tension between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan has wedged the United States between two allies. Turkey is a NATO member, and the Iraqi Kurds have been among the biggest supporters of the American presence in Iraq.
But the PKK, which has battled Turkey for decades for an autonomous Kurdish region in southern Turkey, also has broad support in northern Iraq, despite being labeled a terrorist organization by the United States.
There were no PKK casualties from Thursday's Turkish shelling, said Ahmed Dennis, a spokesman for the group.
Meanwhile, violence hit elsewhere in Iraq. In Diyala province, 24 bodies were found in two graves.
The Iraqi army discovered 15 men buried under a thin layer of dirt about 10 miles north of Baqouba, the province's capital, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. The corpses appeared to be about 10 days old. Each had been blindfolded, handcuffed and shot, Iraqi police said. Ten of the bodies were Iraqi soldiers.
The second grave also was near Baqouba; a police patrol uncovered the bodies of six men and three women.
Fighting between Shiite Muslim militias and the Iraqi army also broke out in Baqouba. An Iraqi army spokesman said the militias were affiliated with both Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, the country's most influential political party. It was unclear how many people had been killed in the fighting.
(Fadel reported from Iraq; Taha, a special correspondent, reported from Sulaimaniyah. Special Correspondent Ali al Basri contributed from Basra.)
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
