Sadr calls six-month ceasefire to prevent civil war

The Shia nationalist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr suspended the activities of his powerful Mehdi Army militia for six months yesterday after clashes in the holy city of Kerbala killed 52 people and forced hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to flee.

His spokesman, Sheikh Hazim al-Araji, said in a statement on state television that the aim was to "rehabilitate" the militia, which is currently divided into factions. Significantly, Mr Araji said that the Mehdi Army will no longer make attacks on US and other coalition forces. This may ease the pressure on British troops in Basra, who have come under repeated attack from the Mehdi Army.

The surprise move by Mr Sadr eases fears that escalating battles between Shia militias were turning into an intra-Shia civil war. The Mehdi Army has been battling police and security forces in Kerbala that are largely manned by the Badr Organisation, the military wing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC).

I've posted repeatedly al-Sadr is the "power" in Iraq. Anything he does is news worthy and extremely important.

Note: I've supplied no links to my earlier posts out of inherent laziness, but you can search on the sidebar.

Via The Independent.

Counter point here. Or at least further analysis.

The nightmare Bush dreads most

ONE MILLION! Sure the estimate could be wrong, but by thousands? Many estimates go for 10's of thousands which is probably more accurate. Its still impressive and very, very anti-US. But the one million estimate came from Asia Times which tends toward the accurate side of reporting from my experience.

Public opinion polls are valuable chips to play for those engaged in a debate of national or international consequence. In the end, however, they are abstract numbers. It is popular demonstrations which give them substance, color, and - above all - wide media exposure, and make them truly meaningful. This is particularly true when such marches are peaceful and disciplined in a war-ravaged country like Iraq.

This indeed was the case with the demonstration on April 9 in Najaf. Over a million Iraqis, holding aloft thousands of national flags, marched, chanting, "Yes, yes, Iraq/No, no, America" and "No, no, American/Leave, leave occupier."

The demonstrators arrived from all over the country in response to a call by Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shi'ite cleric, to demand an end to foreign occupation on the fourth anniversary of the end of Ba'athist rule in Baghdad.

Both the size of the demonstration and its composition were unprecedented. "There are people here from all different parties and sects," Hadhim al-Araji, Muqtada's representative in Baghdad's Kadhimiya district, told reporters. "We are all carrying the national flag, a symbol of unity. And we are all united in calling for the withdrawal of the Americans."

The presence of many senior Sunni clerics at the head of the march, which started from Muqtada's mosque in Kufa, a nearby town, and the absence of any sectarian flags or images in the parade, underlined the ecumenical nature of the protest.[emphasis mine]

I'm just gonna make a couple minor observations.

ONE MILLION! America can't get half that to end the war that has cost more US lives than 9/11.

Note the emphasized words. Muqtada al-Sadr is Shiite, not Sunni. Way to go, Bush. You have made the US universally hated in Iraq and not just the rest of the known world.

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Al-Sadr orders Cabinet ministers to quit government

Muqtada al-Sadr's picture is on the left. The picture
on the right is his father, Mohammed Sadek al-Sadr.

I've said it many times (just search for Sadr on the right sidebar). This guy is powerful and he's been ignored as if a minor player in Iraq.

Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered his Cabinet ministers to withdraw from the Iraqi government immediately, the head of his parliamentary bloc said today.

Al-Sadr’s ministers will “withdraw immediately from the Iraqi government and give the six Cabinet seats to the government, with the hope that they will be given to independents who represent the will of the people,” said Nassar al-Rubaie, head of al-Sadr’s bloc, reading a statement from the cleric.

Al-Sadr’s followers hold six seats in the 37-member Cabinet.

Their withdrawal would deal a blow to the government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who relied on support from the Sadrists to gain office.

Oh yes, you will rarely see Muqtada al-Sadr's name in a story not preceded by "radical cleric", "radical Islamic cleric", "radical Shiite cleric" or some variation on those themes. Perhaps "political power broker" might be more appropriate.

Maybe that's why I think this picture speaks volumes in addition to the one above.


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