"The Iraqi government totally rejects US military operations . . . conducted without prior approval from the Iraqi military command," Maliki said in a statement concerning the Sadr City raid. "Anyone who breaches the military command orders will face investigation."
Maliki banned military operations in Sadr City without his approval last year after complaints from his Shi'ite political allies. The ban frustrated US commanders pushing for a crackdown on the Mahdi Army, blamed for sectarian killings.
Maliki later agreed that no area of the capital was off-limits, after President Bush ordered reinforcements to Iraq as part of the Baghdad security operation.
Also yesterday, the military announced that two American soldiers were charged with the premeditated murder of three Iraqis and with planting weapons on the bodies to cover up the slayings, which took place between April and June near Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad.
Staff Sergeant Michael A. Hensley of Candler, N.C., was jailed Thursday in Kuwait, facing three counts each of premeditated murder, obstructing justice, and wrongfully placing the weapons. Specialist Jorge G. Sandoval, arrested at his home in Laredo, Texas, faces one count each of premeditated murder and planting a weapon, the military said.
In Muqdadiyah, 60 miles north of the capital, police said a suicide bomber blew himself up near a crowd of police recruits, killing at least 23 people and wounding 17.
The US military also said an American soldier was killed and three others were wounded Friday when an armor-piercing bomb hit their combat patrol in southern Baghdad.
US troops have discovered a mass grave with as many as 40 bodies near Fallujah in western Iraq, the military said yesterday.
Thirty-five to 40 bodies -- with gunshot wounds and bound limbs -- were discovered at the site, the statement said. US military officials are investigating, it said without elaborating, and it was unclear who the victims were.
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