Iraqi troops take up positions in Basra in this television grab March 25, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

Heavy fighting erupts in southern Iraq

    BASRA, Iraq, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Heavy fighting broke out between Iraqi security forces and the Mahdi Army Shiite militia in Iraq's southern city of Basra on Tuesday, a local security source and witnesses said.

    Sounds of explosions and machinegun fire resonated in the city overnight and in the morning soon after the Iraqi security forces surrounded several of the city's neighborhoods which are known as Mahdi Army militia strongholds, witnesses at the scene told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.  Full story

Iraq's Sadr threatens "civil disobedience"

    BAGHDAD, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr Tuesday called on Iraqis to hold sit-ins across Iraq if attacks by U.S. and Iraqi troops continue against his followers, a Sadr statement said.

    "We call on all Iraqis to stage sit-ins in all over the country as a first step, so if the government would not respect our people's demands, the second step would be civil disobedience in Baghdad and all other provinces," Sadr said in a statement read out by senior aide Hazim al-Araji.  Full story

5 "insurgents" killed in Iraq's Basra

    BAGHDAD, March 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. aircraft opened fire on a group of "suspected insurgents" who were planting roadside bombs in the southern city of Basra, killing five of them and wounded others, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

    Basra, some 550 km south of Iraq, has been the scene of a fierce clashes between the Iraqi security forces and Mahdi Army militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.  Full story

Cheney wraps up Mideast trip with little to show 

    BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has not made meaningful headway on the thorny issues of Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the world energy crisis during his 10-day trip to the volatile Middle East, analysts said.

    Cheney's tour, which included surprise stops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and scheduled visits to Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the West Bank, "won't produce anything meaningful because he (Cheney) has got nothing to offer," Steven Simon, a U.S. expert on Middle Eastern issues, said.

    Cheney's trip, which he wraps up Tuesday, has been viewed as a move to express the U.S.' continued concern over the situation in the region rather than one aimed at making any tangible progress.  Full story

U.S. death toll in Iraq hits 4,000

    WASHINGTON, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Four U.S. soldiers died Sunday night in a roadside bombing in Iraq, bringing the American toll in the five-year war to 4,000.  Full story

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