Iraq authorities launch major security crackdown in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Tens of thousands of Iraqi police and soldiers searched cars and secured roads Wednesday in Baghdad as the government launched a crackdown aimed at ending the violence that has devastated the capital.\nDespite the stepped-up security -- coming a day after President Bush's surprise visit to Baghdad -- a parked car bomb struck the northern Qahira district, killing at least four civilians and wounding six, police said.\nSome 2,000 followers of a radical Shiite cleric staged a noisy demonstration Wednesday to protest Bush's visit. They raised Iraqi flags and pictures of Muqtada al-Sadr while chanting "Iraq is for Iraqis" and "No, to the occupation." At one point, protesters tried to burn an American flag but it failed to ignite, forcing them to tear at it instead, according to AP Television News footage.\nClashes also erupted in the northern Sunni district of Azamiyah near the Grand Imam Abu Hanifa mosque, Iraq's holiest Sunni Muslim shrine. Gunfire sent residents running for cover. There were no \nreports of casualties.\nThe crackdown, dubbed Operation Forward Together, marked the biggest security operation in Baghdad since the U.S. handed sovereignty to Iraq in June 2004, according to the operation's commander. Bush, during his visit, promised continued U.S. support for Iraqis but cautioned that "the future of the country is in your hands."\nIraqi troops patrolled on foot in Baghdad's central and mainly Shiite Karradah, scene of deadly car bombs in the past week. Soldiers in pickup trucks with rooftop-mounted machine guns guarded main intersections.\nU.S. troops also patrolled parts of Baghdad in convoys of up to four Humvees.\nMost stores were closed in Azamiyah and mostly Sunni Dora, two insurgent strongholds. Entire streets in Dora, in southern Baghdad, were deserted -- including al-Moalemeem, dubbed "death road" by residents because of the frequent sectarian killing and clashes between Sunni insurgents and \nsecurity forces.\nTraffic for Iraqis driving to work was heaviest in areas where large numbers of security forces set up checkpoints behind coils of barbed wire, forcing vehicles to one lane and conducting random searches. Noticeably fewer vehicles were on the streets elsewhere in Baghdad.\nPrime Minister Nouri al-Maliki urged Iraqis to be patient with the new security and promised Iraqi forces would respect human rights and not single out any ethnic or sectarian group. "We are only going to attack areas that are dens for terrorists," he said at a news conference.\nMaj. Gen. Mahdi al-Gharrawi, commander of public order forces under the Interior Ministry, said his forces had encountered no resistance, even in some of Baghdad's most volatile areas.\n"The people are feeling comfortable with the security measures and they are waving to us," he said. "Until now, no clashes have erupted and no bullets have been fired at us."\nSecurity officials said Tuesday that 75,000 Iraqi and multinational forces would be deployed throughout Baghdad, and that the crackdown would also launch raids against insurgent hideouts and call in airstrikes if necessary. The government declined to say how many troops were deployed Wednesday.\nAl-Maliki also announced plans for an extended curfew and a weapons ban, saying he would show "no mercy" to terrorists a week after al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike northeast of Baghdad.\nThe Iraqi army launched a similar crackdown dubbed Operation Lightning in May 2005, deploying more than 40,000 Iraqi police and soldiers, backed by U.S. troops and air support. But violence increased, and many Sunnis were alienated by the heavy-handed tactics concentrating on their neighborhoods.\nThe curfew is expected to curtail what little nightlife Baghdad's 6 million residents have left, although such activities are already limited in many neighborhoods where streets are unsafe.\nAt the anti-Bush demonstration, a close al-Sadr adviser accused the president of breaching Iraq's sovereignty by arriving without notice. Bush's trip was made under tight security, and al-Maliki himself did not know he was in Baghdad until five minutes before they met.\n"Even the Iraqi prime minister wasn't informed about the visit by the American president to Iraq," Abdul-Hadi al-Darajial-Daraji told Al-Jazeera TV. "These violations by the U.S.A. ... are in fact rejected by the Iraqi people."\nHe also demanded a withdrawal of U.S.-led troops.\nBush said Tuesday that the U.S. military presence -- now at about 132,000 troops -- would continue. "I have expressed our country's desire to work with you, but I appreciate you recognize the fact that the future of the country is in your hands," Bush said.\nDespite Wednesday's protest, many Iraqis welcomed Bush's visit.\n"It is truly a surprise visit, but it is a good gesture and a step forward on the path of establishing security and stability," author Abbas al-Rubai said in Baghdad.\nBaghdad's residents have suffered most from the suicide attacks and other violence that plagues Iraq daily. Al-Qaida in Iraq has increasingly focused attacks on the capital rather than on U.S. targets in western Iraq.\nAuthorities said intelligence is helping structure the crackdown. "Baghdad is divided according to geographical area, and we know the al-Qaida leaders in each area," al-Gharrawi said.\nYet he warned insurgents were likely to step up attacks.\n"We are expecting clashes will erupt in the predominantly Sunni areas," al-Gharrawi said. "The terrorists will escalate their violence especially during the first week as revenge for the killing of al-Zarqawi."\nCivilians have complained of random violence and detentions by Iraqi forces, especially the police, widely believed to have been infiltrated by so-called sectarian death squads. Al-Gharrawi said there were plans for a single uniform to distinguish legitimate forces in the coming days.