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Iraqi PM declares ultimatum as Basra death toll mounts

Iraq's prime minister yesterday gave gunmen in the southern oil port of Basra a three-day deadline to surrender their weapons and renounce violence as clashes between Shiite militia fighters and Iraqi security forces erupted for a second day.

At least 55 people were killed and 300 wounded in Basra and Baghdad after the fighting spread to the capital's main Shiite district of Sadr City, police and hospital officials said.

The ultimatum came as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is in Basra to supervise a crackdown against the spiraling violence between militia factions vying for control of the center of the country's vast oil industry located near the Iranian border.

Suspected Shiite extremists also unleashed rockets or mortars against the US-protected Green Zone in central Baghdad for the third day this week.

Three Americans were seriously injured in yesterday's attacks, US Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said. At least four Iraqis were killed after at least two mortar or rocket rounds fell short in Shiite areas of Baghdad.

The violence has raised fears that the ceasefire declared in August could unravel, presenting the gravest challenge to the Iraqi government in months.

The Sadrists are angry over recent raids and detentions, saying US and Iraqi forces have taken advantage of the ceasefire to crack down on the movement.

They also accused rival Shiite parties, which control Iraqi security forces, of engineering the arrests to prevent them from mounting an effective election campaign.

Tensions continued yesterday in Basra, the center of the country's vast oil industry located near the Iranian border.

Gunfire echoed through the streets as Iraqi soldiers and police fought the Mahdi Army, police said.

Mortar rounds also hit a detention center in central Basra and injured 10, police said.

Sadiq al-Rikabi, a chief adviser to al-Maliki, said gunmen who fail to turn over their weapons to police stations in Basra by tomorrow would be targeted for arrest. He added that they must also sign a pledge renouncing violence.

"Any gunman who does not do that within these three days will be an outlaw," he said.

Iraqi officials say at least 40 people were killed and 200 wounded in the fighting in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550km southeast of Baghdad.
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