Soundbite from al Sadr associate plus tanks in Baghdad

(6 Apr 2004)

Baghdad
1. Tanks rolling down the street
2. Various of tank driving past residents in the street
3. Various of US soldiers on top of tank
4. People on the street, pull out to tank in the foreground
5. Soldiers standing on top of a Humvee and a Bradley
6. Soldiers in the street
7. Soldier standing guard on the street with a mosque in the background
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Captain Jeff Merciowski, US Army:
"Right now we are here because last night we were engaged from around the mosque. We took casualties. We have done numerous community improvement projects in this area and now we are trying to find out why we were being shot at last night."

Kufa, Iraq
9. Men walking along a street
10. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Said Mohammed al-Yacoubi, Shiite cleric and relative of Mustafa al-Yacoubi who is currently in US custody:
"The only solution to the current violence is that the Governing Council should fundamentally reconsider the political process. If they do that it would give room for good people to work at spreading security and stability in Iraq. The US is now facing a big challenge here. As long as the United States is a symbol of western civilisation it must try and convince others that this civilisation is right. If it does not do this, it will perish."
11. Street in Kufa

STORYLINE:

US tanks moved in to Baghdad''s southern Abu Dishir area on Tuesday after US forces clashed overnight with insurgents in the neighbourhood.

Soldiers then fanned out across the area, seeking to flush out those who fired at them.

Abu Dishir is a mostly Shiite area of the capital. Many of these areas have seen violent demonstrations and clashes between US forces and members of Muqtada al-Sadr''s private militia, the al-Mahdi Army.

On Sunday, fierce fighting between al-Sadr''s militiamen and coalition troops in Baghdad and outside the city of Najaf resulted in the deaths of 61 people, including eight American soldiers.

Also on Tuesday, Shiite cleric Said Mohammed al-Yacoubi said that the only way to solve the current violence in Iraq would be a fundamental reconsideration by the Governing Council of the entire political process.

Said Mohammed al-Yacoubi is a supporter of Muqtada al-Sadr and a relative of Mustafa al-Yacoubi, a Shiite cleric who was arrested by coalition troops on Saturday.

Al-Sadr and his followers are opposed to the presence of the coalition in Iraq and propose an Iranian-style theocracy as their preferred form of government.

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