As troubles mount in Iraq, Washington is seeking world support to police the war-torn country, writes Salah Hemeid Spiraling violence continued in Iraqi towns as the United States stepped up its efforts to win a new United Nations resolution on Iraq designed to secure international backing for reconstruction efforts. US forces also clashed with the Sadr militia in Baghdad, marking the first armed confrontation with a major Shi'ite group since they occupied the country in April. A huge car bomb exploded Sunday outside a hotel used by members of the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) and by many Americans, killing six Iraqi security guards and wounding more than 35 other people. The bomb, hidden in a car that ran a security checkpoint, ripped through the hotel's parking lot, tearing bodies apart and sending shrapnel more than 100 yards. Two days later another car bomb targeted the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad killing the suicide bomber and wounding a dozen, including two Turkish employees. The attacks deepened the unease that has gripped Baghdad since last Thursday, when a similar bomb killed two Iraqi police officers and six civilians and heightened fears that security in Iraq is deteriorating and reconstruction efforts are floundering. Meanwhile, two leading Iraqi Shi'ite factions clashed Monday in the holy city of Karbala, marking the first interfaith fighting between Shi'ites who so far have kept quiet since the invasion. The shoot-out occurred when about 100 members of Sadr's Mehdi Army, a militia formed by Muqtada Al-Sadr, a 30- year-old cleric and a fierce opponent of the American presence, tried to seize control of the shrines of two of the holiest figures in Shi'ite theology, the seventh-century imams Hussein and Abbas. They were pushed back to a nearby mosque and later dislodged by supporters of Ayatollah Ali Sistani, a leading member of the Hawza, Iraq's highest Shi'ite authority. The clash came hours before Sadr was to unveil details of a government he has declared to replace the US-handpicked IGC which he dismissed as illegitimate. Even though Sadr said his government will only be formed after he receives popular support, it did appear to notch up his defiance of the American-led occupation. IGC members and the Provisional Coalition Authority scoffed at Sadr's announcement. Sadr is evidently challenging the authority of the Council while trying to build a following among poor and alienated Shi'ite Iraqis, who make up a majority of the country's 25 million population. Last Thursday at least two Iraqis were killed in clashes with American troops in Sadr City in Baghdad, inflaming passions in the poor township populated by Shi'ites mostly loyal to the young cleric. American officials said a troop patrol was ambushed near his headquarters in Sadr City, setting off a sustained firefight that also killed two American soldiers and wounded four others. The clashes occurred after Sadr's supporters took over the local council office in the township, which is named after his father, a senior Shi'ite leader assassinated by Saddam Hussein's agents in 1999. An angry throng of perhaps 10,000 people gathered on the following day to honour the two Iraqis killed and express anger at the Americans. Though it is unclear how far Sadr intends to push, tension has been growing in recent days between Iraqi and American officials and Sadr's followers, who represent only a fraction of Iraq's majority Shi'ite population but seem to be more determined and well-organised. Hoping to gain more political power in post-Saddam Iraq, Shi'ites have been cautiously supportive of American efforts. But if the Shi'ites turned in large numbers against the American occupation, the effect could be devastating to the six-months old occupation. The mounting troubles forced the Bush administration to make amendments in their UN draft resolution seeking broader support for its efforts in Iraq -- a resolution previously rejected by Security Council members. The administration's proposed changes, including setting a date, 15 December, for the IGC to begin taking on more power, were intended to quell demands from other countries that the United States agree to the rapid transfer of power from the occupation authority to Iraqis, and turn over the supervision of the process to the United Nations. The new version keeps the same political sequence -- writing a constitution first, elections later, sovereignty last -- that has been criticised by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and several key Security Council nations. Security Council members, led by France, Russia and Germany, have called for a rapid return of sovereignty to Iraq and greater UN involvement in the reconstruction than the US has so far been willing to concede. Still there were new snags in he drive to get more troops and aid to Iraq. Calling for a multinational force and financial assistance, the draft underscores the temporary nature of the occupation but maintains ultimate coalition control until an Iraqi government is established. It also sanctions greater international military and financial support in Iraq. As this issue went to print Washington pressed for a vote on the draft but it remained unclear whether the revised resolution will pass overwhelmingly, or in a less convincing, abstention-riddled vote. The American effort to mobilise an international force that would reduce the human and financial cost of the occupation, however, was undercut by repeated opposition of Iraqi Kurdish leaders and some IGC members to the deployment of Turkish troops in Iraq. Indeed, not many Iraqis are keen to see their former colonial masters back, even temporarily. The rebuff put the administration in the awkward position of telling the world that it wanted to enhance Iraqi sovereignty while telling Iraqis they must accept outside forces against their wishes.
