> Last Updated: Thursday, 27 March 2008, 21:00 GMT
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> Baghdad under curfew amid clashes
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> A curfew has been imposed on Baghdad amid continuing clashes between
> Shia militias and Iraqi security forces.
> The curfew will last from 2300 (2000 GMT) on Thursday until 0500 on
> Sunday to "protect civilians", officials say.
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> More than 130 people have died since a clampdown on Shia militias in
> the southern city of Basra started on Tuesday. Unrest has spread to Baghdad.
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> Earlier US President George W Bush praised Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki's
> decision to order the crackdown.
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> Heavy fighting between the Shia Mehdi Army, led by radical Shia cleric
> Moqtada Sadr, has continued in Basra for a third day, with violence in other
> parts of southern Iraq.
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> Late on Thursday, Sadr called for a political solution to the crisis.
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> In a statement relayed by his aide Hazem al-Aaraji, he said he wants
> "everyone to pursue political solutions and peaceful protests and a stop to
> the shedding of Iraqi blood".
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> Mr Maliki earlier vowed that he would continue the fight against the
> militias for as long as was necessary.
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> "We have made up our minds to enter this battle and we will continue
> until the end. No retreat," Mr Maliki said in a speech broadcast on Iraqi
> state television.
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> The prime minister has personally overseen the operation in Basra,
> which involves some 30,000 troops and police.
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> But Mehdi Army fighters remain in control of some densely-populated
> areas.
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> Speaking at a US Air Force museum in Dayton, Ohio, Mr Bush said
> "normalcy" was returning to Iraq.
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> "As we speak Iraqis are waging a tough battle against militia fighters
> and criminals in Basra, many of whom have received arms and training and
> funding from Iran," he said.
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> Mr Maliki's move against Basra's militias underlined "his leadership
> and his commitment to enforce the law in an even-handed manner", the US
> president added.
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> Rising violence
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> He spoke as one of several Americans injured this week in rocket
> attacks on Baghdad's Green Zone died, amid fresh missiles attacks on the
> fortified area.
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> US embassy staff in Baghdad have been told not to leave reinforced
> structures, following the attacks.
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> The state department has instructed embassy personnel to wear helmets
> and other protective gear if they leave the building, even if they stay
> within the Green Zone.
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> Meanwhile, one of Iraq's two main oil export pipelines from Basra was
> blown up in a bomb attack, sending oil prices above $107 a barrel.
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> And Basra's police chief survived a bomb attack that killed three of
> his bodyguards.
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> With many shops and markets shut, residents in the city said they were
> beginning to run out of food and water.
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> In Baghdad, thousands of Sadr supporters marched to demand Mr Maliki
> quit over the Basra operation and there was sporadic fighting in Shia areas
> of the capital.
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