'Moment of truth' as government battles Shiite militias
(NEWSER) - As Iraqi government forces battle Shia militants for a second day in Basra, the Iraqi prime minister has issued a 72-hour deadline for insurgents to lay down their arms. In a television broadcast, Nouri al-Maliki warned militants, many of them loyal to the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, to stand down or "face the most severe penalties," reports the BBC. Maliki, and not the American military, is directing the Basra operation. More»
