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Show 6rKT8 Nation The Utali Statesman 9_ Monday, Mardi 5,20M Caffe Ibis is proud to offer I Cafe Femenino*, a superior coffee grown and produced in the Highlands of Peru by a cooperative whose members number over 800 women strong! •ADMITS From page 2 ndir City-9 April- APPhoto/Adilal-Khazali A N IRAQI ARMY SOLDIER STANDS GUARD at a vehicle checkpoint at the entrance to Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City, Iraq, Sunday, March 4. Hundreds of U.S. soldiers entered the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City on Sunday in the first major push into the area since an American-led security sweep began last month around Baghdad. Troops flow into Sadr City BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Hundreds of U.S. soldiers entered the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City on Sunday in the first major push into the area since an American-led security sweep began last month around Baghdad. Soldiers conducted house-to-house searches through the densely populated grid of squat two- and three-story buildings, but met no resistance in a district firmly in the hands of the Mahdi Army militia led by the radical cleric Muqtada alSadr, said Lt. Col. David Oclander. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman, told Al-Arabiya television U.S. officials spoke daily with community leaders in Sadr City before entering the stronghold. "If you go to Sadr City today you will see joint Iraqi and American troops cooperating with the head of the Sadr City council," Caldwell said in comments translated into Arabic. "There is no problem between the two sides, and we are trying to set up a small security center there." Al-Sadr withdrew his militia under intense pressure from the government, but there were worries that a large-scale military push without political clearance could bring a backlash and jeopardize the entire security effort. "The indication that we are getting is a lot of the really bad folks have gone into hiding," Oclander said. Police said there had been U.S. military activity at the alJazair police station in Sadr City since Friday, where troops were thought to be converting the facility into a joint operations center. Bulldozers maneuvered in the station's yard. U.S. troops, assisted by Iraqi forces, also moved through the Jamila area on the northern edge of Sadr City and sealed off some streets, police said. Last year, U.S. patrols came under frequent attack in Jamila. A spokesman for Sadr's bloc in parliament, Falah Hassan, said there was "no reason" for such a "provocative act." "We understood that Iraqi forces only would conduct the search and if that they faced resistance, then U.S. forces could intervene," he said. "But that was not the case with today's operation." Sadr City presents one of the most difficult steps in the security sweeps that began Feb. 14. The Mahdi Army's cooperation is essential to keep the plan from derailing, but al-Sadr has complained about the heavy U.S. role in the raids and its inability to stop car bombs and other attacks blamed on Sunni insurgent groups. Earlier, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spoke about the Baghdad security plan at a reconciliation conference of former army officers in Baghdad. "The law must prevail and all Iraqis must be equal in front it, regardless of their religious and ethnic background or political affiliation," al-Maliki said. Separately, U.S. troops raided a mosque in Baghdad and captured three suspected insurgents hiding inside. The detainees included a man believed to be responsible for distributing weapons to build bombs for attacks on American and Iraqi forces, the military said. Kenneth Gross, a Washington lawyer who specializes in congressional ethics rules, said Domenici's phone call to Iglesias could have violated Senate ethics rules if there was an element of pressure or coercion to his inquiry. "It doesn't sound very good to me," Gross said. "But requests for the status of cases are generally considered permissible." Punishment for such violations range from a warning and reprimand to expulsion from office. Abbe D. Lowell, a criminal defense lawyer who served as special assistant to the attorney general during the Carter Administration, said it was hard to determine if there was a violation without knowing what Domenici knew about the investigation when he made the call and what exactly he said. But Lowell added, "The safest course of a member of Congress is not to make inquiries of prosecutors about pending matters so their motives and actions cannot be misunderstood." Iglesias said last week that he was shocked to receive two separate phone calls in mid-October from lawmakers who asked about details of the investigation and seemed eager to see an indictment before the 2006 election. "I frankly felt violated," Iglesias said. "They were very troubling phone calls." When Iglesias testifies Iuesday before the House panel, he is expected to say that Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., contacted him to discuss moving forward on indictments in a high-profile corruption case involving a Democrat before the November congressional elections, according to a Democratic aide who is familiar with Iglesias1 planned testimony. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly before the hearings. Corruption in the New Mexico Democratic Party was a major issue in Wilson's re-election campaign and further indictments might have helped her. Wilson last week refused to say if she had contacted Iglesias, referring questions about "that personnel matter" to the Justice Department. Iglesias is one of eight U.S. attorneys who werefiredin December, some without cause, according to the department. Federal prosecutors serve at the pleasure of the president and can be fired for any reason, or none at all. Congressional Democrats say the firings indicate the Bush administration is using a new part of the terrorismfighting Patriot Act to reward political allies with coveted jobs as U.S. attorneys without having to submit them to Senate confirmation. ? FAIR TRADE % SHADE GROWN % ORGANIC /^"•XXCAFF BIS COFFEE ROASTING COMPANY www.caffelbis.can CAFFE IBIS HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AS A GREEN BUSINESS ef omen 3:30-8:00 m. Thursday. MARCH 8 fn tf\e q>ur)fiurst &)di V inner naff nwwc Wedding and Relaxation Get 300 free text messages a month for one year. Sign up for new service and show a valid college ID at the Sprint store. After 12 months, pay the regular monthly fee. REDMOTORAZR™V3m Motorola and Sprint are collaborating with (PRODUCTJ^tohelp eliminate AIDS in Africa. J0INRED.COM • CIVILIANS This feature-packed phone is the only RED MOTORAZR that lets you download music wirelessly from the Sprint Music Store™ From page 2 hands of foreign forces. The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch estimates that more than 100 Afghan civilians died as a result of NATO and coalition assaults in 2006. An AP tally, based on reports from Afghan, NATO and coalition officials, puts the overall civilian death toll in 2006 at 834, most from militant attacks. Nine witnesses - including five Afghans recuperating from bullet wounds in the hospital - told The Associated Press that U.S. forces fired indiscriminately along at least a six-mile stretch of one of eastern Afghanistan's busiest highways - a route often filled not only with cars and trucks but Afghans on foot and bicycles. "They were firing everywhere, and they even opened fire on 14 to 15 vehicles passing on the highway," said Tur Gul, 38, who was standing on the roadside by a gas station and was shot twice in his right hand. "They opened fire on everybody, the ones inside the vehicles and the ones on foot." The tolls varied. The Interior Ministry said 10 people were killed, while the provincial health chief said eight died. The U.S. military said eight civilians were killed and 34 wounded after earlier saying 16 were killed and 24 wounded. It did not explain the revised, lower death toll, saying only that the new figures were "the most accurate numbers to date." A U.S. Marine was also injured in the suicide blast. Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said the chief of the Interior Ministry's criminal division would lead a delegation including a U.S.-led coalition official to Nangarhar province Monday to investigate. "The coalition says they have proof that gunmen opened fire," said Bashary. "But I think more of the gunfire was from the (U.S.) side." Malik Shakan, 45, a village elder, said "I can assure you 100 percent" that no militants had fired on the Americans. But Accetta said it was possible villagers wouldn't have seen gunmen firing from covered positions and that their attention would have been fixed on the U.S. vehicles. The gunfire from Americans prompted angry demonstrations in the region -just 30 miles west of the Pakistan border. Hundreds of Afghans blocked the road and threw rocks at police, with some demonstrators shouting "Death to America! Death to Karzai!" At the Jalalabad hospital, several victims said the American convoy approached them on the highway and opened fire. As the convoy neared, many cars pulled over to the side of the road, but were still hit by gunfire. Your source for swaDi responsible coffee $59 99 $109.99 2-year pnce. Plus $50 mail-in rebate with new line activation and 2-year agreement. ( sprint ©)" wimeu B * m u PUTO* V (PROWCT)"" mum is i comiBmuG PUTT n (PMOOCT)* l-800-Sprint-1 sptf nt.com/powered Sprint to the nearest Sprint or Nextel store Sprint stores LOGAN 1207 N Main Street 435-752-7500 PREFERRED DEALERS BRIGHAMCJTY Brightstar 435-723-9911 POWER UP LOGAN Brightstar 435-752-4520 Coverage not available everywhere. Available feature and sejvices will vary by phone and network The Nationwide Sprint PCS Network readies over 250 million people. Voice oiling area reaches over 165 million people In the US, Puerto Rico. US. Virgin Islands and Guam. Offers not available In all markets. Additional terms andrestrictionsapply Subject to credit approval. See store or sprintcom lor details. Phone Offer: Offer ends 03/31/07 or while supplies last Requires a new line of service with a new twoyear subscriber agreement. Taxes excluded. Service Plan: Up to $36 activation and $200 early termination fees apply per line. Deposit may be required. Instant Savings: Activation at time of purchase required No cash back. MaiHn Rebate: Requires purchase by 03/31/07 and activation by 04/14/07. Rebates cannot exceed purchase price Taxes exduded. Line must be active 30 cmseartive davt Allcw 8 to 12 weeks for rebata Free Text fttesaglng. Text r r » FOCUS on driving RJslrfrec Guarantee: Call us to deactivate and return (to place of purchase) complete, undamaged phone wrth receipt within 30 days of activation You areresponsiblefor all charges based on actual usage {partial monthly service charges, taxes, Sprint Fees, etc). Project RED: Motorola and Sprint will collectively make a $17 contribution on the sale of each RED MOTORAZR V3m phone to the Global Fund to Rght AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria See wwwmotorola.com/red, JOiNREDrom, or wwwthegtobarfund^fg/en for more details. ©2007 Sprint Nextel. All rights reserved. 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