1000 US, Iraqi forces carry out security sweep in Baghdad

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Source: CCTV.com | 02-08-2007 08:45

US and Iraqi forces are carrying out a security sweep in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, part of US-backed plans to step up momentum. While the Iraqi parliament looks for more support from Iraqi, the US say the operation needs time in order to produce results.

More than 1,000 US and Iraqi forces have carried out a security operation in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of al-Adamiyah.

They've detained 24 people and confiscated a handful of small arms.

With little sign of an end to the carnage, many Iraqis have complained of the late start to the security drive.

The plan aims to put thousands of US and Iraqi forces on the streets, to protect civilians against sectarian violence and death squads.

The Iraqi parliament is urging both political parties and the people to back the joint US-Iraqi campaign to stabilize Baghdad.

Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, Iraqi parliament speaker, said, "This plan is a last-ditch effort by the US administration and the new Iraqi political system. If it fails, the Iraqi project of the US administration will fail and the whole Iraqi political project will fall to pieces."

Officials have said there will be no official start to the security sweep, but that it will build up gradually.

Major General William Caldwell, US military spokesman, said, "And we would hope to start seeing a different sere (stage) in the near future. It's not going to be a sudden immediate thing. It's going to take time, it's going to take patience."

Thousands of Iraqi reinforcements are already on the streets of Baghdad. But most of the extra troops promised by US President George W. Bush have yet to arrive.

Editor:Du Xiaodan