American forces break into al-Sader city in Baghdad

The American army announced that it killed some 50 Iraqis of al-Sader supporters in the fighting which took place since Wednesday evening.

Upon the completion of control of the American army on the city, the American armored vehicles roamed the streets repeating through loudspeakers a message in Arabic demanding the supporters of al-Sader to hand over their weapons.

The tanks and armored vehicles were deployed in all the main streets of the city while Apache helicopters flew in the airspace of the area.

At the political field, the chairman of the preliminary committee of the Iraqi national congress Foaud Masoum described the discussions and the atmosphere of the sessions as free, despite the fact that some of the participants withdrew at their own will and without objection from any side at the nomination for the interim legislative council.

In a press conference, Masoum said that the council which is composed of 100 members will convene its first meeting on September 1st and the coming session will be dedicated to draw the constituent of the council, the work mechanism and the timetable for its meetings and determine key issues to be dealt in next meetings.

He added that members of the new national council will continue dialogue with all Iraqi sides.

Masoum stressed that the 81 elected members on Wednesday represent all Iraqi people social strata and secular, Islamic and liberal parties in addition to independent figures and heads of tribes and also al-Sader trend.

In addition to the 81 elected members, other 19 were appointed from the previous interim Iraqi governing council. The national council enjoys limited legislative authorizations. This council will approve the 2005 budget and monitor the implementation of laws.