Iraqi state TV has said that the army has killed more than 30 insurgents in a fierce gunbattle in central Baghdad.

 

Four Sudanese fighters were among the dead, Al-Iraqiya channel said on Saturday evening.

 

The fighting took place near Haifa Street in a mainly Sunni area not far from the Green Zone where Iraq's largely Shia government is based.

The clash took place just hours after Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, announced the start of new military offensives aimed at curbing violence in the capital.

 

Al-Maliki said the operation in Baghdad would continue "until all goals are achieved and security is ensured for all citizens."

"There will be no refuge from this plan for anyone who is operating beyond the law, regardless of their sect or their political affiliation," Maliki said in a televised speech to mark the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Iraqi army.

 

 

Al-Maliki also urged Iraq's soldiers to avoid taking sides in sectarian violence themselves while warning that further hardships lay ahead for Baghdad's residents.

 

"We will come down hard on anyone who does not carry out their orders and who does their job according to his political or sectarian background.

 

"We are fully aware that implementing the plan will lead to some harassment for all beloved Baghdad residents but we are confident they fully understand the brutal terrorist assault we all face."

 

Iraqi police said that they had recovered the bodies of around 50 people in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq. Most were apparently the victims of sectarian violence.

 

 

Al-Maliki also condemned foreign leaders who criticised his government for the conduct druing the execution of Saddam on December 30, saying the hanging was an internal matter.

 

"The Iraqi government could be obliged to review its relations with any state that fails to respect the wish of the Iraqi people," he said.

 

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"We consider the execution of the dictator an internal affair that concerns only the Iraqi people."

 

He slammed those who criticised the execution.

 

"We find that this conduct is inciting sedition and flagrant interference in the internal affairs of Iraq and abuses feelings of he families of the victims," Maliki said.

 

A number of international leaders have criticised Saddam's hanging, saying it appeared more like a sectarian lynching than a court-directed punishment.