Al-Maliki tells Shi'ites to surrender

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BAGHDAD -- Iraq's prime minister has told Shi'ite militiamen to surrender their arms or face an all-out assault by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces, senior Iraqi officials said yesterday, as President Bush said he will commit more than 21,000 American combat troops to the war.

Under pressure from the United States, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has agreed to crack down on fighters controlled by his most powerful political ally, Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shi'ite cleric, officials said. Until now, Mr. al-Maliki had resisted the move.

"Prime Minister al-Maliki has told everyone that there will be no escape from attack," said a senior Shi'ite legislator and close al-Maliki adviser. "The government has told the Sadrists: 'If we want to build a state we have no other choice but to attack armed groups.' "

In his address to the American people last night, Mr. Bush said Mr. al-Maliki had promised that U.S. forces would have a free hand and that "political or sectarian interference will not be tolerated."

He also warned that the United States expected the Iraqi leader to keep those promises. "America's commitment is not open-ended," Mr. Bush said. "If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people."

The Iraqi prime minister on Saturday announced that his government would implement a new security plan for Baghdad, which consists of neighborhood-by-neighborhood sweeps by Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops.

In the past, the Iraqi government has tried to prevent American military operations against Sheik al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, while giving U.S. forces a free hand against Sunni militants. The Bush administration has pushed Mr. al-Maliki, who took office in May, to curb his militant allies or allow U.S. troops to do the job.

Although Mr. al-Maliki withdrew political protection from the Mahdi Army, there was no guarantee that the Shi'ite fighters would be routed easily from the large and growing area of Baghdad under their control.

The militia has more fighters, weapons and sophistication today than it did in 2004, when it battled U.S. forces to a standstill in two strongholds, the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf and Sadr City, Baghdad's sprawling Shi'ite slum.

Sunni militants, meanwhile, have put up fierce resistance in the five days since Mr. al-Maliki announced his new security initiative for Baghdad.