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Iraqi Lawmakers to Meet as Violence Escalates

Posted Mar 27, 08 9:45 PM CDT in World 

(Newser) – Iraqi lawmakers will hold an emergency session in Baghdad tomorrow to try to find a way to resolve the escalating violence in Basra and the capital, Reuters reports. Baghdad, its Green Zone rocked by steady rocket and mortar fire, is now under a three-day curfew, and the State Department ordered US personnel to stay indoors. Militias in Basra, meanwhile, stood their ground for a third straight day against Iraq's security forces. 

It's not clear how much effect tomorrow's legislative meeting will have, but Reuters notes that it will include Sunni and Shiite members of parliament, along with lawmakers loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed "no retreat" today in his bid to rid Basra of militias. Sadr called for a political solution and no more "shedding of Iraqi blood" but stopped short of calling off attacks on the Green Zone.

Source Reuters

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Mahdi Army fighters stand in Basra, Iraq, Thursday, March 27, 2008.   (AP Photo)
In this image taken from video, smoke is seen Thursday, March 27, 2008, near Basra, Iraq.   (AP Photo/APTN)
Iraqis hold a banner of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr during a massive protest the Kazimiyah neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, March 27, 2008.   (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Iraqis hold an banner of Muqtada al-Sadr during a protest in the Kazimiyah neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, March 27, 2008.   (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
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Iraq  • Baghdad  • Nouri al-Maliki  • Muqtada al-Sadr  • Basra  • Iraq Civil War  • Sadrists


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