Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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March 26, 2008


Iraqi PM Gives Basra Militants 72 Hours to Surrender Arms
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1BAA4FC:A6F02AD83191E1605B63D17C462253CA70AD7039DCD7B7E4& Iraqi officials say
at least 40 people have been killed and at least 200 others wounded in
two days of fierce fighting in the city Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki has ordered Shi'ite militants fighting government forces in
the southern city of Basra to surrender their weapons within three
days or face the consequences.







Iraqi Mahdi Army fighters gather in a residential area in the southern
city of Bara, 26 Mar 2008

Mr. Maliki issued the ultimatum from Basra Wednesday, where he is
supervising a major military operation against Shi'ite militias that
began on Tuesday.

Iraqi officials say at least 40 people have been killed and at least
200 others wounded in two days of fierce fighting in the city.

Meanwhile, officials say renewed fighting today in Baghdad's Sadr City
district has killed at least 14 people and wounded at least 100
others.

In Washington, President Bush is to visit the U.S. Defense Department
today for closed-door talks with top advisors on whether to continue
reducing troop levels in Iraq, or take a pause to see if recent gains
in Iraq's security hold.

The clashes are jeopardizing a seven-month-old cease-fire that Sadr
declared last year.

Meanwhile, the U.S. embassy in Iraq says rockets or mortars struck
Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone today, seriously wounding three
Americans.

And in the northern town of Tikrit, U.S. and Iraqi forces say at least
five Iraqi civilians, including a judge, have been killed in fighting
between U.S. troops and suspected al-Qaida in Iraq insurgents.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, Reuters and AFP.


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