(KUNA) -- Iraqi Prime Minister and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Nouri Al-Maliki declared on Friday a 12-day deadline for militias, involved in street fighting with government troops in the southern city of Basra, to drop their arms in return for financial rewards. Al-Maliki said in a press release issued by his office that all those who possess combat weapons should hand them over to security authorities in return for financial rewards before April 8. He stressed that the ultimatum deadline is a response to the need to "solve illegal arming that threatens security and the lives and properties of citizens."
Al-Maliki had given militants a 72-hour ultimatum deadline, that ended today, to drop their weapons. He said, on Thursday, that there would be neither "retreat nor negotiations" with outlawed armed men in southern city of Basra. The three days of fighting has largely turned Basra into a ghost city, with most streets deserted, except for regulars and rag-tag gunmen, opening fire or launching rockets or mortar shells sporadically. Television networks have broadcast footages of the city, showing damaged or burnt properties. Oil exports from the city terminal was temporarily abrupted, yesterday, after one of the three oil pipelines was sabotaged.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Parliament will hold an extraordinary session on Friday to discuss security situation and tension in Basra. Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani announced in a press release on Thursday that the session will be held Friday afternoon. The majority in the Iraqi Parliament Thursday expressed solidarity with Al-Maliki's security campaign to uproot outlawed militias in Basra.
Around 130 people have been killed and 350 injured since the campaign began in the oil-rich city on Tuesday. The operation was launched after the city appeared falling into the hands of the irregular gunmen, including followers of the hardline cleric, Muqtada Al-Sadr, chief of Al-Mehdi Army militia. In the mean time, a complete two-day curfew was imposed in Baghdad. It will end early Sunday. |