At least 47 dead as tanks, troops deploy in Baghdad

IRAQ: Iraqi and US troops pressed closer to a long-announced battle against sectarian carnage in Baghdad that has pushed Iraq toward civil war, as at least 47 people died in another surge of brutality on Monday.

The fresh bloodshed came in the wake of nearly 200 deaths over the weekend, mostly in the war-torn capital.

Iraqi forces cranked up security Monday in some volatile Baghdad districts on the eastern side of the Tigris river, an AFP photographer reported.

Iraqi soldiers and National Guard policemen were stationed on the capital's main eastern highway leading to the Shiite militia bastion of Sadr City, a repeated target of insurgents.

Tanks, armoured vehicles and National Guard police manned various locations on the road to Sadr City and in some other districts.

New control points were also established in the districts of Karrada, Rusafa, Mustansiriyah, Adhamiyah, all to the east of the Tigris. On some bridges, tanks protected soldiers as they checked cars.

Access to Sadr City itself was controlled by soldiers and police commandos. The sprawling district is the stronghold of the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia accused by US officials of leading the killing of Sunni Arabs amid the chronic sectarian conflict gripping Baghdad.

It was not clear if the new measures were part of the long-trumpeted offensive to stabilize Baghdad.

But President George W. Bush told reporters that Washington was trying to implement the new strategy as rapidly as possible and that General David Petraeus was heading to Iraq Tuesday to take over command.

"And my message is, is that both of us, the Iraqis and the US and coalition forces, have got to get this plan in place as quickly as possible," Bush said.

Insurgents, meanwhile, launched brutal attacks killing at least 47 people around Iraq. A suicide bomber blew up his truck near a petrol station in southwest Baghdad's Al-Saidiyah district, killing 10 people and wounding 60, a security official said.

Thirty-three more died in other attacks, including several near the violent city of Baquba, in Diyala province, and in the northern city of Mosul.

Police also found 25 corpses of people killed execution style in Baghdad. Meanwhile President Bush asked for billions of dollars in new spending for the Iraq war on Monday.

Bush, facing heavy criticism and slumping popularity over his Iraq strategy, wants to send in an extra 21,500 American troops, most of them to curtail attacks in Baghdad against U.S. forces and between factions of Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.

Bush asked the U.S. Congress, now run by his Democratic Party foes, to approve defense spending of $622 billion - much of it for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - as he unveiled a $2.9 trillion budget request for the 2008 fiscal year.

Even more money for Iraq may be needed, he warned. "Our priority is to protect the American people. And our priority is to make sure our troops have what it takes to do their jobs."

Meanwhile Syria can play a major role in international efforts to quell sectarian violence in Iraq, President Bashar al-Assad told US television Monday, warning the US might have missed its chance.

"We are not the only player, not the single player. But we are the main player in this issue," Assad told ABC television's "Good Morning" program in an interview.

"Our role is going to be through supporting the different parties inside Iraq with support of the other parties like America, and any other country in the world - that's how we can stop the violence," the Syrian leader insisted.

Syria could help because "we have a good relation with all the parties, including the ones participating in this government, and the one that opposed this process. That's how we can help as Syria."

So far despite the mounting violence in Iraq, US President George W. Bush has resisted calls to engage Syria or Iran in efforts to quell the violence, and instead has accused Damascus of trying to destabilize the region by backing groups such as Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

But Assad insisted the United States may have missed the moment to bring about peace in Iraq without the help of other players.

"After nearly four years of occupation, they haven't learned their lesson, they haven't started the dialogue. I think it's too late for them to move toward that," he said.

"First of all, the problem in Iraq is political. And talking to Syria as a concept means talking to all the other parties inside Iraq and outside of Iraq," Assad said.

Baghdad, Washington, Tuesday, AFP, Reuters