Shiite militiamen re-emerge in troubled southern city in Iraq

Witnesses said the Iraqi army was doing nothing to stop the resurgence of Shiite-on-Shiite violence. Iraq's leaders sent a force of about 500 soldiers to the city late last week after Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militiamen stormed the city and attacked police stations, manned primarily by loyalists of the rival Badr Brigades, also a Shiite militia.\nAt least 25 fighters and police died in those gunbattles before politicians intervened and won a promise from the Mahdi Army gunmen to leave the streets. In the meantime, virtually all of the Amarah police force went into hiding.\nThe Iraqi prime minister warned the country against lawlessness and said his military would take unspecified action to stop the mounting bloodshed.\n"Let everyone be informed that orders have been issued to the armed forces to stop any transgression against state power and to confront any illegal attempt regardless of its source," Nouri al-Maliki said in a statement.\n"The Iraqi government also calls in particular on the people of Maysan province (home to Amarah) to exercise caution and care in the face of attempts to drag the people of this unified nation into fighting and strife," the Shiite prime minister said.\nAl-Maliki has faced growing pressure from allies in Washington and London to rein in Shiite militias and other violent factions, and his Monday statement appeared to be a reaction.\nThe White House said Monday that the fledgling Iraqi government must step up and take more responsibility for the country's security.\nPresident Bush's spokesman Tony Snow discounted a newspaper report saying the head of the U.S.-led Multinational Forces in Iraq and the U.S. ambassador were working on a plan that would set a specific timetable for disarming militias and meeting other political and economic goals.\n"There is still a very large to-do list before Iraq is in a position to sustain, government and defend itself," Snow said. "Are we issuing ultimatums? No."\nWith the army apparently on the sidelines and unwilling to stop the bloodshed in Amarah, 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, it was unclear what effect the statement would have there or elsewhere in the country.\nIn Amarah, gunmen dragged police Lt. Sarmad Majid al-Shatti from his home before dawn, then dumped his bullet-riddled body at a farm on the city's outskirts, said Ali Chaloub of Sadr General Hospital. Another policeman, Lt. Alaa al-Kabi was shot to death outside his home, Chaloub said.\nProvincial policemen Hamid Majeed and Hassan Abdullah were kidnapped from their homes, and their bodies were later found dumped outside the city, Chaloub said.\nBadr fighters took revenge, killing and beheading the teenage brother of the local Mahdi Army commander. The Mahdi commander was killed Thursday, setting in motion the Amarah violence.\nWith sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites also on the rise, Sunnis in Baghdad largely ignored public celebrations of the Eid al-Fitr feast marking the end of the Ramadan month of fasting. They said they feared new attacks.