Iraqi Leader Disavows Timetable Report

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces on Wednesday raided Sadr City, the stronghold of the feared Shiite militia led by radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, but Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki disavowed the operation, saying he had not been consulted and insisting "that it will not be repeated."

The defiant al-Maliki also slammed the top U.S. military and diplomatic representatives in Iraq for saying Iraq needed to set a timetable to curb violence ravaging the country.

"I affirm that this government represents the will of the people and no one has the right to impose a timetable on it," al-Maliki said at a news conference.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Tuesday that al-Maliki had agreed to the plan, announced at a rare joint appearance with Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, who said he would not hesitate to ask for more troops if he felt they were necessary.

At least four people were killed and 18 injured in the overnight fighting in the overwhelmingly Shiite eastern district known as Sadr City, according to Col. Khazim Abbas, a local police commander, and Qassim al-Suwaidi, director of the area's Imam Ali Hospital.

The U.S. military said Iraqi army special forces, backed up by U.S. advisers, carried out a raid to capture a "top illegal armed group commander directing widespread death squad activity throughout eastern Baghdad," the military said in a statement.

Al-Maliki, who is commander in chief of Iraq's army, heatedly denied he knew anything about the raid:

"We will ask for clarification about what has happened in Sadr City. We will review this issue with the multinational forces so that it will not be repeated...The Iraqi government should be aware and part of any military operation. Coordination is needed between Iraqi government and multinational forces."

As the raid began, Iraqi forces were fired on and asked for American airpower backup. The U.S. said it used "precision gunfire only to eliminate the enemy threat," according to the military's statement.