BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqis aligned with Medhi militia started
trickling into police stations in Baghdad on Monday to exchange
their weapons for coupons they can later use to get cash from the
Iraqi government.
Rebels were expected to surrender thousands of medium and heavy
weapons at various centers in the Sadr City area of the city under
the control of police, the National Guard and City Council
officials during a five-day amnesty, officials in Iraq's interim
government said Monday.
Observers said the surrendering of rocket-propelled grenade
launchers, mortars and machine guns was a sign an agreement between
radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Iraqi government was being
implemented as announced.
Iraqi Police Col. Fawzi Mahmoud said the weapons began arriving at
8 a.m. Monday at the al-Habibia police station on the outskirts of
Sadr City.
"Until now, we have received a good number of weapons and Mehdi
militia is still coming to this center to turn over its weapons,"
Mahmoud said.
"The city is very quiet and the people have been very cooperative
with the Iraqi police," he said.
Three police stations in Sadr City are ready to receive the
weapons, another police official said.
The weapons surrender is intended to allow Iraqi security forces,
backed by U.S. forces, to take control of the area where attacks on
U.S. and Iraqi soldiers have been going on for weeks.
When a weapon is turned in, the donor gets a receipt from police
that can later be exchanged for cash from the Iraqi
government.
A member of the Iraqi National Guard said people who turned in
weapons would receive the following amounts, converted into U.S.
dollars:
Rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) - $175 each
BKC medium machine gun - $1,000
Sniper rifle - $650
AK-47 rifle - $150
RPK rifle - $160
Mortar, 60mm - $252
Mortar, 120mm - $275
Hand grenades - $5
In return for the weapons handover, the interim government said,
there would be amnesty arrangements for people who "have not been
involved in criminality."
Also, al-Sadr and his allies would be permitted to get involved in
the country's nascent political culture.
Iraq's interim government and al-Sadr followers announced the deal
Saturday.
Interim national security adviser Kasim Dawood called the plan a
"breakthrough" deal and a "big achievement" toward consolidating
national unity in Iraq.
Iraqi companies will be allowed to resume normal operations within
Sadr City, but foreign companies will not be allowed in at this
time, Sheikh Ali Smeisem said.
Meanwhile on Monday, a U.S. military convoy was attacked by a
suicide car bomb in Mosul, northern Iraq, the U.S. military
said.
Task Force Olympia spokeswoman Capt. Angela Bowans said there were
military casualties, although the military was not yet saying how
many or whether any troops were killed.
Hospital officials in Mosul said two Iraqi civilians were killed
and 37 wounded, many of them critically. Dr. Raheem Ahmend of Mosul
General Hospital said the hospital received the two killed and 30
wounded.
At Jumhuri hospital, Dr. Sahar Maher said seven wounded were being
treated.
Bowans said a car was driven into the path of a moving military
convoy around 11 a.m. (0800 GMT) in southwestern Mosul. Military
officials on the scene said the attack was followed by small arms
fire.
Other developments
Two U.S. soldiers were killed and five were wounded in a rocket
attack in southern Baghdad Monday morning, the U.S. military
said.
Two suicide car bombs exploded in separate sections of Baghdad on
Sunday morning, killing seven people, including a U.S. soldier,
officials said. The attacks occurred as U.S. Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld made an unannounced visit to the region.
CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Ayman Mohyeldin, Kianne
Sadeq, Ingrid Formanek and Brent Sadler contributed to this
report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CNN 2004
Just a thought, why are they given so little $$ in comparison to
the amount of $$ it would have been sold in real cash in
markets?
USD $150 for a AK-47 is CHEAP..
