Iraqi PM gives Basra gunmen 3-day ultimatum

BAGHDAD (AP) - The White House is praising Iraq's leader for taking aggressive action to halt the fighting in Basra.

A White House spokesman said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's crackdown against spiraling violence is "exactly" the right way to handle Basra's "illegal criminal gangs" and militias.

The Iraqi leader is giving gunmen in the oil port three days to renounce violence and hand over their weapons. Militias have been fighting for control of the center of Iraq's vast oil industry, located near the Iranian border.

At least 55 people have been killed and 300 wounded in Basra and Baghdad in clashes involving Shiite militias and Iraqi security forces. The fighting has spread to the capital's main Shiite district of Sadr City.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)