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Sadrists call for civil protest in Iraq

BASRA, Iraq, March 25 (UPI) -- Leaders of the political party loyal to the Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr called for a civil disobedience campaign Tuesday in protest of raids targeting the group.

Nassar al-Rubaie with the Sadrist Movement said the party called for nationwide civil disobedience because its demands to the Iraqi government were not met, CNN said.

The Sadrist Movement says Iraqi national security forces are targeting its militias unduly and issued demands for a halt on the raids, the release of detainees and a formal apology Sunday.

"We call all citizens to join the civil disobedience," al-Rubaie said.

Analysts predicted an outbreak of violence among many Shiite factions in Iraq following a decision by the Presidential Council that paved the way for provincial elections Oct. 1. Al-Rubaie said the violence against forces loyal to Sadr is used "for political reasons."

Meanwhile, in the southern oil-rich city of Basra, clashes broke out between Sadr's Mehdi Army and Iraqi national security forces, leaving at least 12 dead and 32 wounded.

Media reports said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited Basra Monday to oversee security operations there.

The escalating conflict with the Mehdi Army threatens a cease-fire called by Sadr though he has said his forces may respond to attacks by U.S. and Iraqi forces.

Iran supplying Iraqi extremists, U.S. says

BAGHDAD, March 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. military says Iranian operatives provide money, weapons and training to Iraqi insurgents, despite Iranian promises the activity would end.

Analysis of recent attacks, including rockets fired on Baghdad's Green Zone during the weekend, confirmed they were carried out by Shiite extremists armed with weapons provided by Iran, Voice of America reported Tuesday.

Officials had said they could not be certain whether Iran's elite Quds Force stopped providing weaponry and training after Iranian leaders promised their Iraqi counterparts it would stop. However, Col. Steve Boylan, spokesman for the top U.S. general in Iraq, said intelligence gathered from prisoners and analysis of rocket fragments indicated the pledges have not been kept.

"We don't believe they are, based on the ordnance we've been seeing and the types of attacks that have been occurring," Boylan said.

His comments followed a statement by Army Gen. General David Petraeus, who told the BBC Sunday's rocket attack on the Green Zone offered evidence Iranian operatives still fund, train, equip and direct some of Iraq's insurgents.

Boylan said coalition forces were working to unravel insurgent networks.

U.N. food program seeks $500M

UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (UPI) -- A United Nations food program has issued an emergency appeal for donations as the amount of food aid sent abroad from the United States is plunging.

The World Food Program, which feeds about 73 million people worldwide, is seeking funding to close a $500 million gap caused by global spikes in food and fuel prices, the United Nations said in a release issued in New York.

"We urge your government to act quickly on this request so that we may avoid cutting the rations for those who rely on the world to stand by them during times of abject need," Josette Sheeran, WFP executive director, wrote in letters to donors.

The price of food and fuel has jumped 55 percent since June 2007, Sheeran said. The food program has worked to lessen the effects of the increases, including buying 80 percent of its food supplies in local and regional markets.

Because of rising food and fuel prices, the new estimated figure to cover projects in 78 countries is $3.4 billion, the organization said. The revised estimate doesn't include emergency operations.

Missile parts accidentally sent to Taiwan

WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Defense Department reported Tuesday it accidentally sent non-nuclear ballistic missile components to Taiwan.

Four nose cone fuses for intercontinental ballistic missiles were shipped instead of the helicopter batteries Taiwan requested, CNN reported.

The Defense Department said it has repossessed the fuses from Taiwan and Chinese officials have been notified.

Resigning won't save Motown mayor

DETROIT, March 25 (UPI) -- Detroit's head prosecutor plans to put Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on trial regardless of whether he chooses to resign or remain in office.

Kilpatrick faced arraignment Tuesday on a dozen felony counts and has so far vowed to stay in office and fight charges, which include perjury and stem from the city's settling of a police whistle-blower lawsuit.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy told the Detroit free Press there has been no indication that Kilpatrick will seek a plea deal and she would not drop the charges in exchange for his resignation.

"This is so vital to the justice system that we not turn a blind eye to this," she said. "Yes, perjury is not charged every day ... but the bottom line is this is out there, it was glaring, it's something that could not be ignored."

Meantime, the lawyer representing the family of a stripper who was killed after being linked to a rumored party involving Kilpatrick said the indictment of the mayor bolsters his case.

Norman Yatooma told the Detroit News that the fact Kilpatrick was charged with obstruction of justice adds credibility to the allegation that the mayor fired a deputy police chief who had been looking into the 2003 drive-by shooting death of dancer Tamara Greene.

Error that freed SLA member made in '05

SACRAMENTO, March 25 (UPI) -- Corrections officials in California traced the clerical error that led to the mistaken release of Sara Jane Olson to a 2005 update of her prison file.

The former Symbionese Liberation Army member was released from prison March 17 but was taken back into custody less than a week later when it was realized that she still had a year of her sentence to serve.

Olson, who was known as Kathleen Soliah during her SLA days, was sentenced to multiple prison terms for her role in a killing and a plot to bomb Los Angeles police cars. The SLA was also responsible for the kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst.

The Los Angeles Times said two years had mistakenly been trimmed from the sentence when Olson's file was being updated. The case records employee apparently made the error while going through a complex transcription of a hearing on converting Olson's case to a new formula for determining sentence reductions.

The clerks' union told the Times that the new system requires better training and technology for the people who keep prisoner records.