Demonstrations in support of Iraqi PM al-Maliki

(28 Mar 2008) SHOTLIST 1. Wide shot of thousands of Shiite supporters of prime minister Nouri Maliki marching with banners in city street 2. Various of marchers holding flags, banners 3. Various of marchers, armed security men in the foreground 4. Various of marchers 5. Mid of green banner, two posters of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki 6. Close up of man chanting 7. Various of security, marchers STORYLINE: Thousands of Shiites took to Karbala's streets to show their support for Nouri Al-Maliki, as the fellow Shiite prime minister was supervising a campaign to rid Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, of lawless gangs and Shiite militias - some believed tied to nearby Iran. Posters of the Iraqi prime minister could be seen being carried by demonstrators in the Shiite holy city. al-Maliki has warned gunmen in the southern oil port to surrender their weapons by Friday or face harsher measures, as clashes between security forces and Shiite militia fighters spread throughout the south and in Baghdad. Despite the ultimatum, government troops in Basra were having trouble making inroads into neighbourhoods that the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army has controlled for years. Al-Maliki remained in Basra to supervise the crackdown against the spiralling violence between militia factions vying for control of the centre of Iraq's vast oil industry, located near the Iranian border. Al-Maliki has insisted the fight is targeting criminal gangs in Basra, not al-Sadr's movement, and he has promised no retreat. But the crackdown has intensified Sadrist anger over recent raids and detentions by U.S. and Iraqi forces followers say have taken advantage of their 7-month-old cease-fire. The events threatened to unravel a Mahdi Army cease-fire and spark a dramatic escalation in violence after a monthslong period of relative calm. The Sadrists are angry over recent raids and detentions, saying U.S. and Iraqi forces have taken advantage of the August cease-fire to crack down on the movement. They have accused rival Shiite parties, which control Iraqi security forces, of engineering the arrests to prevent them from mounting an effective campaign after the Iraqi parliament agreed in February to hold provincial elections by the fall. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...