Iraq: On Ground Updates - Sunday, April 20, 2008

* Iraq: On Ground Updates *
- Iran in Iraq...
- Shi'ite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr Threatens
‘Open War’ on Baghdad Government...
- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Makes Surprise Visit...
& More...
Sunday, April 20, 2008

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* AFP.Google.com brings us this troubling news today and it starts off like this... A US general said on Sunday that the increasingly sophisticated attacks carried out by Shiite extremists in Iraq were evidence they were getting extra aid from Iranian groups in the country... Major General Rick Lynch, commander of US forces in central Iraq, said rocket and mortar attacks by Shiite extremists were "more effective than before". This he charged indicated a rise in Iranian help to the militants... "We are seeing an increase in (Iranian) influence ... the number of attacks that are directly attributed to Iranian influence have indeed increased," Lynch said...
Read the story in full at link below...
Iran groups offering extra aid to Iraq rebels: US
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* RFERL.org reports... With Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatening to launch an "open war" on the Baghdad government, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made an unannounced visit to Iraq... During her April 20 visit, Rice said that she was in Iraq to help promote reconciliation among factions. Speaking to reporters traveling with her, Rice praised Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's security efforts.. The top U.S. diplomat said she saw a "coalescing of a center in Iraqi politics" in which the Sunni, Kurdish, and elements of the Shi'ite leadership "have been working together better than at any time before."... Rice’s visit comes as the government appears to be reaching a decisive moment in its showdown with al-Sadr’s militia, the Mahdi Army. The government has been cracking down on al-Sadr's followers...
Read the full report at link below...
Iraq: Top U.S. Diplomat Makes Surprise Visit Amid Showdown With Al-Sadr

* CNN.com reports... Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is calling on political parties to unite against armed groups in Iraq, a spokesman said Sunday, warning that "Iraq cannot be the new Somalia."... "It is a clear message," al-Maliki spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said of the situation in Iraq. "We cannot accept the presence of armed groups."... Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other...
Read the rest at link below...
PM vows not to let Iraq become 'the new Somalia'

* Africasia.com has this short report today...
40 Shiite militiamen killed in Iraq clash: US military

* TheDailyStar.net sums up with this report...
US forces threaten to hit back if Sadr launches war .

Photo Credits:
al-Sadr epa file photo - DoD cropped al-Maliki photo - DoS Rice file photo