U.S.-Picked Najaf Governor Accuses Cleric

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040529/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=1480

KUFA, Iraq - The U.S.-appointed governor of Najaf accused radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Saturday of failing to honor a deal to end fighting as U.S. soldiers clashed with Shiite gunmen. Three Marines were killed Saturday in separate fighting west of Baghdad, pushing the number of U.S. deaths to more than 800.


Al-Sadr's fighters said they killed one Iraqi policeman and captured another during an exchange of fire in Kufa. Three Iraqis were injured in clashes, hospital officials said. There were no reports of any U.S. casualties.


Gov. Adnan al-Zurufi complained al-Sadr had done little to stop his fighters from brandishing their weapons in public or to send home militiamen not from this city — key parts of the agreement he struck with Shiite leaders to end seven weeks of fierce fighting around Najaf and Kufa.


"Unfortunately, there have been no positive initiatives from the office of Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr so far," al-Zurufi said. "Armed men are filling the streets and there have been number of attacks on state employees in Kufa."

more...U.S.-Picked Najaf Governor, eh? Shouldn't that be U.S.-Picked Najaf stooge?

[patdem]

1. "Al-Sadr's fighters said ..".to whom?? are they giving interviews?

what are we to believe?

[maddezmom]

2. not sure what a-Zurufi qualifications are to be governor?

~snip~
As a native of Kufa, Najaf's twin city, and a Shiite who was active in the anti-Saddam resistance, al-Zurufi, 38, is well qualified for the job, U.S. officials say. But some in the Iraqi community here say he lacks experience and credibility, and fear he is destined to be an ineffective puppet.

The United States has relied extensively on former exiles like al-Zurufi to create a loyal power base in Iraq. But such appointees have been the target of strong criticism and even violence. On Monday, Abdel-Zahraa Othman, head of Iraq's Governing Council and a former exile, was killed by a car bomb.

~snip~

Al-Zurufi -- who returned to Iraq last year as part of a Pentagon-recruited group of exiles -- is charged with helping to restore order in Najaf. The regional government, along with most of the U.S.-trained police and civil defense forces, has disintegrated in recent months during the rebellion by al-Sadr's men.

~snip~
But Juan Cole, a professor of Middle Eastern history at the University of Michigan, said it was too early to write off al-Zurufi.

"He's Shia and he's Dawa, and those are actually qualifications that amount to something in Iraq now," Cole said. The Dawa Party could provide a good alternative in Najaf to al-Sadr's more radical movement, he added.

http://www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm19839_20040517.htm