Fierce battles as militants retain Najaf and Kut: Koreans, Japanese kidnapped; 45 US soldiers, hundreds of Iraqis lose lives
BAGHDAD, April 8: The top US general in Iraq acknowledged on Thursday that the southern towns of Najaf and Kut were in the hands of a militia loyal to radical leader Moqtada al Sadr.
On the ground, occupation forces fought fierce battles with Iraqis and a spate of kidnappings hit foreigners as the country descended into bloody chaos not seen since Saddam Hussein's fall a year ago.
A previously unknown group said it was holding three Japanese hostages and threatened to "burn them alive" unless Tokyo withdrew its troops from Iraq within three days.
Rebels seized two Arabs with Israeli identity cards, shown on a video tape aired by an Iranian television station, and accused them of spying. A Briton was missing after being kidnapped in the southern town of Nassiriya. Seven South Koreans were seized by armed men while doing missionary work but were later freed unharmed. They were taken hostage near Baghdad.
Washington' military commander in Iraq, Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez, admitted at a press conference in Baghdad that Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army was in control of the centres of Najaf and Kut, along with police stations and public buildings, while US-led forces held bases outside the towns.
Fallujah fighting: Ten Iraqi guerillas and two US soldiers were killed on Thursday as the marines met ferocious resistance in Fallujah. The tough fight put up by the Iraqis prompted the marine commander to make comparisons with the Vietnam war.
The upsurge in resistance has prompted US President George Bush's critics to suggest US forces face a Vietnam-style quagmire, but Gen Ricardo Sanchez rejected the comparison. "I don't see any shadows of Vietnam in Iraq," he said at a news conference.
"We have got Fallujah under siege," he said, but denied that US forces were depriving its people of humanitarian supplies. Up to 300 Iraqis have been killed and at least 400 hurt in the predominantly Sunni town in the four days since US Marines began a crackdown on guerillas.
The Marines launched "Operation Iron Resolve" after last week's killing and mutilation of four US private security guards showed the depth of anti-American feeling in Fallujah.
South of Baghdad, Polish and Bulgarian troops battled followers of Moqtada Sadr in Kerbala, where hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have converged for Arbain (the end of a 40-day mourning period for Hazrat Imam Hussein and his followers).
Thirty-five 35 American and allied soldiers and hundreds of Iraqis have been killed in this week's new two-front fighting in Iraq. Previously the resistance had been largely confined to the "Sunni triangle" around Baghdad.
President Bush has vowed the escalation will not force the United States to retreat from Baghdad or disrupt its planned handover of power to Iraqis on June 30, but signs of nervousness have emerged among some other countries with troops in Iraq.
The rash of kidnappings will probably cause more soul-searching among US allies. About 125,000 US troops and some 20,000 from other nations, including Britain, Japan and South Korea, are in Iraq.
VIDEOTAPE: The Al Jazeera television aired a video tape showing the three Japanese, including a woman, who are being held by a group calling itself the Saraya al Mujahideen. They were in civilian clothes.
"We tell you that three of your children have fallen prisoner in our hands and we give you two options - withdraw your forces from our country and go home or we will burn them alive and feed them to the fighters," they said.
A foreign office official in London confirmed that Gary Teeley had been missing since Monday. British media said the 37-year-old Briton had been working at a US air base.
Iran's Al Alam television said the two Arabs with Israeli papers, Nabil Razuq and Ahmed Tikati, had been seized by a group calling itself Ansar al Din. Razuq's uncle said his nephew worked for the US Agency for International Development. Israeli minister Gideon Ezra said both men were residents of East Jerusalem, but were not Israeli citizens.
This week's revolt by Shias, coinciding with the US crackdown on towns like Fallujah and Ramadi, has drawn some expressions of Sunni-Shia solidarity, but it is not clear whether the rebel groups are coordinating. Thousands of Sunni and Shia protesters gathered outside Baghdad's Um al Qura mosque, chanting slogans in support of people in Fallujah, Kerbala and other conflict zones.
