Iraqi projects on target despite violence

BAGHDAD, May 1 (UPI) -- Iraqi reconstruction projects progressed and displaced people returned home despite violence from criminal gangs in Sadr City, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

The U.S. and Iraqi governments have several operations planned over the next 30 days to distribute food and medical supplies to citizens in eastern Baghdad, Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, the spokesman for Multi-National Force – Iraq said.

Tahseen al-Sheikhly, the Iraqi civilian spokesman for security operations in Baghdad, backed those claims, saying the Iraqi government formed a committee in coordination with city council members in Sadr City to "provide the best social, economic services to the people and also to raise the level of those basic services."

Bergner said while the level of violence remains high, Iraqi citizens are rejecting violence and committing themselves to economic development and basic reconstruction. Some 10,000 displaced Iraqi returned to their homes this year in cities and villages just south of Baghdad, he said.

Sheikhly said food rations and health services are at around 80 percent of their full operational capacity in Sadr City, but blamed "criminal gangs" for "the lagging process of providing ... basic services."

Sheikhly cautioned, however, the "criminal gangs" are not affiliated specifically with forces loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr and stressed the fight was not political.

"We are not targeting any political trend or any political side or any party. … We target those who carry weapons and those who harm the Iraqi people," he said.