Sources: Iraqi-U.S. assault on Baghdad neighborhoods to start

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops will begin a neighborhood-by-neighborhood assault on militants in the capital this weekend as a first step in the new White House strategy to contain Sunni insurgents and Shiite death squads, key advisers to the prime minister said.

The first details of the new plan — a fresh bid to pacify the capital — emerged Friday, a day after U.S. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spoke for nearly two hours by video conference. Both leaders were expected to detail their vision of a new strategy in the coming days.

The al-Maliki aides would not address the scope of the planned new assaults nor where specifically they were planned.

The Iraqis did, however, signal continuing disagreement on key issues, including al-Maliki's unease over the introduction of more U.S. troops.

The Iraqi leader has repeatedly refused U.S. demands to crush the militia of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, one of the prime minister's most powerful backers.

Read the rest at the International Herald Tribune

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