Iraqi Sources: Baghdad push to last 'at least' 6 months; Sistani, Sadr support plan

The last U.S. 'security push' in Baghdad was in September, 2006. This picture was taken then on Haifa Street, scene of the beginning of the new 'security push' last week.

BAGHDAD, Jan 15 (Reuters) - A major new U.S.-backed security plan for Baghdad should last for at least six months, senior Iraqi political sources said, adding that if it failed to curb militia violence they feared the government would collapse.

One said he expected to see operations beginning next week and lasting for about seven months.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and U.S. President George W. Bush have announced plans to add thousands of Iraqi and U.S. troops in the capital to smother sectarian violence that is pitching Iraq towards all-out civil war.

Bush has said the operation will "in large part determine the outcome in Iraq" and senior Iraqi officials from the Shi'ite Islamist majority dominating the government said they believed it was a "last chance" that needed thorough implementation.

"The key element of this plan will be the time. The troops will take their time, actually all the time they need to clean an area," said one senior politician, speaking late on Sunday.

"The plan will last at least for six months."

A previous attempt to clear militants, district by district, failed last summer because, U.S. commanders said, there was a shortage of Iraqi troops to hold gains made by the Americans and because Shi'ite politicians prevented them arresting or killing leading Shi'ite militants.

"The final touches are being put out now on the plan," another senior politician told Reuters, forecasting a start next week.

The political sources said that there were only some logistics to finalise, such as bringing additional troops into Baghdad and also getting political cover -- ensuring the broadest possible support for the operation, including from radical Shi'ite leaders like young cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Government leaders have also been visiting the top Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to ensure his backing.

U.S. commanders and Iraq's once dominant Sunni minority have made clear they want any crackdown to include not just Sunni rebels but militias loyal to powerful Shi'ite Islamists, notably Sadr's Mehdi Army, which they blame for death squad killings.

Shi'ite officials said Sadr supported the plan.

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet

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