Threats fly in Iraq’s Shia, Sunni flashpoints

US forces are poised just outside Najaf and have vowed to kill or capture Sadr and destroy his Mehdi Army militia, but have allowed time for talks to defuse the standoff.

The Mehdi Army rose up across the mainly Shi’ite south this month, but US-led forces have regained control of most towns. Sadr’s fighters still operate in Kerbala and Najaf, supervised by a Polish-led multinational force. Guns were quiet in the Sunni stronghold of Falluja, but a US officer said Marines were ready to resume an offensive against insurgents in the city of 300,000. Civilian volunteers used picks and shovels to dig bodies from houses flattened in fierce fighting earlier this month.

Colonel John Coleman, chief of staff of 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said a possible new offensive would take on Saddam Hussein loyalists.

Such a battle could shape Iraq’s future, Coleman told reporters at Camp Falluja, a US base near the town. ‘‘Falluja is the centre of gravity.’’ Over 2,000 Marines ring Falluja, ready for action if the US decides that rebels have failed to turn in enough heavy weapons under a peace deal reached with civic leaders. —(Reuters)