BAGHDAD, 16 February 2007 — Iraq closed its borders with Iran and Syria as US and Iraqi troops tightened their grip on Baghdad yesterday, setting up more checkpoints that stopped and searched even official convoys for weapons.
Residents of Sadr City, stronghold of the Mehdi Army of anti-American Shiite leader Moqtada Al-Sadr, reported seeing fewer militiamen on the streets. The whereabouts of Sadr himself remained a mystery — US officials said he was in Iran, but his aides insisted he was in Iraq’s city of Najaf.
An Interior Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the closure of Iraq’s four border crossings with Iran and two with Syria took effect on Wednesday.US officials have long accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters to cross its long, porous border into Iraq, and at the weekend presented evidence of what they said was Iranian-manufactured weapons being smuggled into Iraq.
“The plan to close the borders went into effect last night. Many points were closed, but I can’t confirm that all were shut,” US military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver told Reuters.
Iraq had said it would shut the borders for 72 hours. The US military said on Wednesday border checkpoints were to be revamped to establish “transfer points” to search vehicles.
A British military spokesman, Maj. David Gell, said two Iranian border crossings, in Basra and Maysan provinces, had been sealed by British and Iraqi forces.
The closures came as thousands of US and Iraqi troops stepped up operations in a new offensive in Baghdad, the epicenter of sectarian violence that has pitched the country toward civil war.
The operation aims to clear Baghdad’s neighborhoods of militants and weapons and then secure them in a bid to break the power of Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents who have turned the capital’s streets into killing fields.
But military analysts say the advance publicity given to the Baghdad security plan means many militiamen are likely to have left Baghdad or are lying low until the operation is completed, rather than seek confrontation with security forces.
Residents said the Mehdi Army certainly appeared to be keeping a lower profile and there were reports that several commanders had fled the capital. The United States has identified the militia as the greatest threat to peace in Iraq and hundreds of Mehdi Army members have been arrested. The US military and Iraqi government officials have said Sadr himself left Iraq for Iran ahead of the crackdown, but aides repeated again yesterday that he was still in Iraq.
Sadr was in a secret location in Najaf, a senior Sadr official, Salam Al-Maliki told Reuters. He said the Sadrists backed the new security clampdown, but “some of the brothers who are wanted by the Americans have moved house because we’ve been targeted before.”
Operation Imposing Law is seen as a last-ditch effort to stabilize the capital. Shiite officials have warned that failure could mean a collapse of the Shiite-led government. US President George W. Bush is sending more than 17,000 additional troops for the crackdown.
More checkpoints appeared overnight and residents reported that even official government or security convoys were stopped and asked for weapons permits and identification papers.
“I’d rather suffer from traffic jams than explosions. I am really happy they have finally decided to check all vehicles, including government convoys,” said Hussein, the 21-year-old owner of a computer software shop.
A Reuters photographer said only people with Interior and Defense Ministry badges were allowed to keep their weapons.
Civilians with permits still had their guns seized. He saw two people arrested for not having identification documents.
