Iraqi forces detain 1,000 in al Qaeda push
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi forces have detained more than1,000 suspects in an offensive aimed at crushing al Qaeda innorthern Iraq, the military commander of the operation said onSaturday.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki returned to Baghdad onSaturday after spending several days in the city of Mosul andsurrounding Nineveh province to supervise the crackdown.
Many gunmen from Sunni Islamist al Qaeda have regrouped inNineveh after being pushed out of other areas. The U.S.military says Mosul is al Qaeda's last major urban strongholdin Iraq.
Lieutenant-General Riyadh Jalal Tawfiq, head of theIraqi-led offensive that began a week ago, said 1,068 suspectshad been detained so far.
"This operation will last until we finish off all theterrorist remnants and outlaws," he said.
On Friday, Maliki said fighters who handed in their weaponswithin 10 days would be given an amnesty and unspecified cashrewards. His offer applies to gunmen who have not killedanyone.
Defence Ministry spokesman Major-General Mohammed al-Askarisaid scores of militants had already handed over their guns.
"We are committed to the amnesty and have reassured themthere will be no judicial pursuit against them," he said,adding the government would soon make public the compensationavailable for different kinds of weapons handed in.
Iraqi law states that each household may legally own onesemi-automatic rifle.
BLAME
U.S. officials blame al Qaeda in Iraq for most big bombingsin the country, including an attack on a Shi'ite shrine inSamarra in February 2006 that set off a wave of sectariankillings that nearly tipped Iraq into all-out civil war.
An influx of additional U.S. troops last year and adecision by Sunni Arab tribes to turn against al Qaeda hasenabled U.S. and Iraqi forces to push the militants out ofBaghdad and the western province of Anbar, their formerstrongholds.
The Iraqi military wants to repeat that success in Mosul.
Police and soldiers have raided some towns on the Syrianborder, where many foreign al Qaeda fighters enter Iraq, aspart of the operation and turned over some suspects to U.S.forces.
In late March, Maliki took control of a military operationagainst Shi'ite militias in the southern oil city of Basra. Theoperation started badly, as the Mehdi Army of Shi'ite clericMoqtada al-Sadr put up fierce resistance.
Iraqi troops, backed by the U.S. military, gradually tookcontrol of Basra but fighting spread to Baghdad, drawingsecurity forces into daily gun battles with militiamen claimingallegiance to Sadr.
A week-old truce deal between Sadr's parliamentary bloc andthe ruling Shi'ite alliance has helped ease fighting,especially in capital's Shi'ite slum of Sadr City, a Mehdi Armybastion.
Residents said Sadr City was quiet on Saturday. Police saidthey were able to gain access to parts of the slum to startclearing streets of roadside bombs.
The renewed fighting with the Mehdi Army thrust the Iraqwar back to the centre of the U.S. presidential electioncampaign.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a keyDemocrat critic of President George W. Bush's war policy,landed in Baghdad on Saturday for talks with U.S. and Iraqiofficials, the U.S. embassy said.
(Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Alison Williams)