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Sadr demands forces be reinstated Sadr demands forces be reinstated
(about 1 hour later)
Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has demanded the Iraqi government reinstate 1,300 soldiers and police who were dismissed for desertion during recent fighting.Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has demanded the Iraqi government reinstate 1,300 soldiers and police who were dismissed for desertion during recent fighting.
His office said those who had handed their weapons to militiamen during the clashes in Basra and Kut were following orders from their religious leaders.His office said those who had handed their weapons to militiamen during the clashes in Basra and Kut were following orders from their religious leaders.
Those sacked are believed to be loyal to the radical cleric, whose Mehdi Army militia was the target of the raids.Those sacked are believed to be loyal to the radical cleric, whose Mehdi Army militia was the target of the raids.
Meanwhile, a car bombing has killed 12 members of the Kurdish Peshmerga force. Meanwhile, at least 15 people have been killed in two bomb attacks near Mosul.
The troops, who are now part of the Iraqi army, died when there convoy was attacked near the Syrian border about 120km (75 miles) north-west of the city of Mosul, local police said. Twelve members of the Kurdish Peshmerga security force, now part of the Iraqi army, died when a car bomb exploded next to their truck near the Syrian border, about 120km (75 miles) north-west of the city, police said.
US-led forces also discovered a mass grave containing 20 to 30 badly decomposed bodies near Muqdadiya, 60km (37 miles) north of Baghdad, the US military said in a statement. Separately, a suicide bomber blew himself up during a funeral for a Shia family in the nearby northern town of Talafar, killing at least three people and wounding more than 10 others, the mayor said.
Earlier, US-led forces discovered a mass grave containing 20 to 30 badly decomposed bodies near Muqdadiya, 60km (37 miles) north of Baghdad, the US military said in a statement.
The victims appeared to have been buried for nearly eight months and troops were unable to determine whether they had been tortured, it added.The victims appeared to have been buried for nearly eight months and troops were unable to determine whether they had been tortured, it added.
'Loyalty and devotion'
In a statement issued by his office in Najaf, Moqtada Sadr demanded that the authorities reinstate the security personnel sacked for abandoning their posts or refusing to fight during last month's offensive against Shia militias in the south.
"All the brothers in the army and police who gave up their arms to their bothers, were only obeying their grand religious leaders and they were driven by their religious duties," the cleric said.
All the brothers in the army and police who gave up their arms to their bothers, were only obeying their grand religious leaders and they were driven by their religious duties Moqtada Sadr statement
"I call upon all concerned authorities to reconsider their decision to dismiss those people from the army and the police. I demand they be reinstated and even rewarded for their loyalty and devotion to their religion," he added.
On Sunday, interior ministry spokesman Maj-Gen Abdul-Karim Khalaf said more than 900 police and soldiers had been sacked in the city of Basra, including nearly 40 senior police officers, where the fiercest clashes took place.
A further 400 police officers were also dismissed in Kut, a city about 160km (100 miles) south-east of Baghdad, which was also affected by the fighting, he added.
Gen Khalaf acknowledged that about 1,000 members of the security forces - including a full infantry battalion - refused to fight or joined the militias during the offensive, the biggest so far mounted and led by the Iraqi government.
"Some of them were sympathetic with these lawbreakers, some refused to [go into] battle for political or national or sectarian or religious reasons," he added.
The offensive, which was personally instigated by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, ended with an Iranian-brokered deal which saw the militias off the streets but retain their weapon.
Correspondents say the government's failure to retake control of Basra despite superiority in numbers and firepower was an embarrassment for Mr Maliki and cast doubt on whether Iraqi forces could take full responsibility for security from the US-led coalition.
The majority of soldiers and police deployed in southern Iraq are Shia.