Iraqi police prepare for massive Baghdad security operation

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Wisam Younis' sole ambition in life, he said Friday, is to kill Americans. So he claimed surprise when he discovered his car bomb had killed eight Iraqis and wounded more than 80 outside a Baghdad restaurant.

Younis and brothers Badr and Yassin Shakir are charged with murder and face the death penalty in the May 23 attack.

"We did not know that the attack would target innocent people and we were deceived. We were eluded by enthusiastic ideas and money," said Younis, barefooted and with bruised and swollen hands. An insurgent leader promised him $1,500 for the bombing, he said.

Baghdad police paraded out the three Sunni Arabs to help put a face to an deadly insurgency, and to show that Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari means business with a plan to encircle Baghdad with tens of thousands of security forces.

The display also was meant to reassure a public whose discontent with the Shiite-led government has been high because of its seeming inability to provide security and crush the insurgency.

Car bombings and other violence have led to more than 650 deaths since al-Jaafari's government was announced April 28, according to an Associated Press count.

Iraqi authorities are preparing for what a U.S. general described as "a very large operation" involving more than 40,000 Iraqi police and soldiers backed by American troops and air support.

Operation Lightning has received planning and logistical support from U.S. troops who are keen to train and equip Iraqi security forces so they can eventually take over security in the capital.

It was unclear why Defense and Interior Ministers Bayan Jabr and Saadoun al-Duleimi chose to announce the operation before it fully got underway -- making it known to the insurgents it was designed to capture.

An Internet statement posted Friday in the name of the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist group challenged authorities, saying the government crackdown will "not deter (them) from fighting for God."

The statement, which could not be authenticated, apparently refers to Jabr and al-Duleimi as the "two unbeliever apostates, followers of the worshippers of the cross, (who) have announced they are deploying 40,000 cowards and apostates in Baghdad."

Operation Lightning aims to single out attackers such as the three men who police said confessed to bombing the Habayibna restaurant in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood. The bomb exploded at lunchtime when police officers usually gather at the restaurant.

"Since April 18, we have had more than 600 civilians killed, many of them specifically targeted. Bombs are going off near elementary schools. This is wanton. They have declared war on the civilian population of Iraq," Alston said of the insurgents.

The violence, mostly targeting Iraqi security forces and Shiites, also has led to an increase in sectarian tensions. Sunni Muslims who dominated under Saddam's regime are thought to make up the core of the insurgency.

"We are displaying these criminals to show to the Iraqi people that we are working to achieve security and we are in the street determined to defeat the terrorists," said Brig. Sadiq Jaffar, head of the elite Hussein Brigade.

Younis and the brothers, both in their mid 30s, were arrested late Wednesday by Hussein Brigade forces, police said.

Police allege Badr Shakir was responsible for detonating the remote-controlled bomb while his brother was the link between his cell and the main planner, a man known as Abu Karam.

Younis, the alleged designated getaway driver, was the first to be detained, and singled out the others, police said.

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Associated Press writers Paul Garwood and Patrick Quinn in Baghdad contributed to this report.