Rockets crashing into central Baghdad's Sheraton hotel

A rebel &to= english.pravda.ru/hotspots/2002/01/09/25134.html ' target=_blank>Shiite Muslim militia led by Moqtada al-Sadr pledged on Thursday to disarm in what could be a major advance for U.S.-Iraqi efforts to calm violence in Iraq ahead of elections due in January. The proposal, which meets a key demand of the interim government, was announced by Ali Smeism, a top Sadr adviser, on Arabic al-Arabiya television. It followed the release of a pro-Sadr cleric from U.S. detention in &to= english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/98/386/12647_USA.html ' target=_blank>Abu Ghraib jail. Smeism said that in return for any weapons surrender, the government must guarantee that Sadr's followers are not "persecuted" and the U.S. military must free more of his aides. He said the proposed deal focused on militiamen holed up in the Baghdad slum district of Sadr City, a hotbed of anti-U.S. activity, but could be extended to other "areas of tension." Talks are also under way to defuse a standoff with insurgents controlling the &to= english.pravda.ru/printed.html?news_id=14117 ' target=_blank>Sunni Muslim stronghold of Falluja. Soon after Smeism's announcement, insurgents delivered a noisy reminder of their presence, sending at least two rockets crashing into central Baghdad's Sheraton hotel. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the blasts, but panicked guests fled from the Sheraton, where the lobby was littered with shattered glass and rubble. Iraqi police sealed off the heavily fortified complex which houses the Sheraton and adjacent Palestine hotel, where scores of foreign contractors and journalists are based. Police found a truck used to launch the rockets, identified as Russian-made Katyushas, about 500 meters (yards) away. With violence gripping Iraq, President Bush said last year's invasion was justified, even though a new U.S. report found that Baghdad had no stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction and that its nuclear program had decayed, informs Reuters. According to the Scotsman, two rockets slammed into the Sheraton Hotel in Baghdad last night, in a brazen attack which overshadowed a pledge by a Shiite militia to disarm. Shortly after the blasts, gunfire echoed across the city centre. A hotel resident said one rocket had hit a first-floor room, a second struck nearby. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the fortified compound containing the Sheraton and the adjacent Palestine Hotel, both used by foreign journalists and contractors. A tree was set ablaze outside the Sheraton. The blasts occurred shortly after a top aide to the rebel Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr announced that Shiite militiamen would hand over their weapons as part of a peace initiative in Baghdad’s Sadr City and other trouble-spots. The proposed deal, which requires the government’s approval, could help to calm violence between US forces and Shiite rebels ahead of elections due in January and may pave the way for similar talks with Sunni-led insurgents. The proposal was announced by Ali Smeism, considered Sadr’s most senior acolyte, in a live broadcast on the Arabic satellite television channel al-Arabiya and came hours after a top cleric was freed from US detention. A top aide to Iraqi rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr says militias loyal to the religious leader will turn in their weapons in exchange for assurances they won't be persecuted. There has been no immediate response from the interim government or U.S. authorities, but on Wednesday interim Prime Minister &to= english.pravda.ru/mailbox/ 22/101/399/14308_terrorism.html ' target=_blank>Ayad Allawi said the Iraqi government would not sign anything to confirm the peace agreement with al-Sadr's forces. "We are not negotiating. We are not signing anything," said Allawi. Meanwhile, a number of rockets were fired in central Baghdad on Thursday evening. Two rockets hit the Sheraton hotel in the centre of the city, shattering windows and sending guests into the streets, but there are no reports of serious injuries. Bursts of automatic gunfire could also be heard and tracer bullets flared against the night sky. The Sheraton is across the Tigris River from the complex housing Iraq's interim government as well as the U.S. and British embassies, publishes CBC News.

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