Caught Between Forces Vying for the Soul of a Country

BAGHDAD, May 13 -- Inside his olive-green tent, Abbas Laibi Sadoon unveiled the fresh scar on the right shoulder of his 7-year-old son, Ali. It was caused, Sadoon said, by a U.S. airstrike targeting Shiite militiamen in the capital's Sadr City enclave. That was why his family fled their home six days ago.

But in this displacement camp at Baghdad's largest stadium, Sadoon's family faced another danger: The militiamen could target them for accepting humanitarian aid from Shiite rivals who lead Iraq's government. That, and the fragility of a truce, was why the family feared returning home on Tuesday.

"Those who are coming here are risking their life," said Sadoon, seated on blue tarpaulin near donated food, his radio by his feet. "I might die because of this, but I am afraid for my kids."

The civilians of Sadr City are increasingly trapped between two battles for the soul of Iraq -- one pitting U.S. forces against the militiamen of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, the second between Iraq's Shiite parties.

Clashes erupted late Monday night and Tuesday, despite a cease-fire formally signed Monday by lawmakers loyal to Sadr and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The violence left at least 11 civilians dead and 20 wounded, police said, adding that at least three militiamen were also killed.

Reports of the fresh violence quickly filtered back to the 28 families from Sadr City who have fled to this soccer field in Shaab Stadium with their meager possessions and vivid stories of chaos.

"There is no truce," said Mohammed Jassim, 38, a physical education teacher who arrived Saturday with 10 relatives. "We hear something from the politicians, but we see something different on the ground."

"We are the victims, we and our sons," said Ali Jaffer Muhsin, 52, the owner of a small shop in Sadr City who was standing outside Jassim's tent.

A few hours earlier, Muhsin had taken his four children to school inside Sadr City because he had heard about the cease-fire. It was the first day of exams, and the Ministry of Education said they would not be postponed. But as he drove through Sadr City, he said he saw missiles striking a building and immediately returned to the camp.

Muhsin knew that he would face another challenge Wednesday: "My daughter's high school was bombed a week ago," he said. "And tomorrow my daughter has an exam at that school."

As he spoke, two women clad in head-to-toe black abayas walked in clutching two photos of a car riddled with bullet holes, its body crushed. They said U.S. troops had shot at the car, then driven over it with a tank.

"My husband was killed," one of the women said. "I have six kids, and my husband used to be a taxi driver. So what can I do?"