A militiaman loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr stands guard close to a wall plastered with poster of his leader in Baghdad Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City .(AFP/Sabah Arar)
Posted on 06/24/2004 12:43:46 PM PDT by TexKat
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Radical cleric Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army declared a truce by loud speaker in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City and said it was ready to help protect important sites from terror attacks.
"Considering the exceptional circumstances that our people face, we have decided to stop from tonight the military operations in Sadr City until we receive new orders," the militia's central committee said in a statement.
"All the Mehdi Army will respect this decision or face expulsion," it said.
Fighting has rocked the Shiite Muslim slum of Sadr City almost nightly since Sadr rose up against US forces in the first week of April.
A militiaman loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr stands guard close to a wall plastered with poster of his leader in Baghdad Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City .(AFP/Sabah Arar)
Ping
This idiocy is a little more complicated than we might think. The Al-Queda types want to turn Iraq into a permanent bloody basketcase, whereas Sadr simply wants to seize power for himself. This story may be genuine..
Good spin. He's cried Uncle now that he knows we won't block his transformation into a political figure.
Bad spin. Just a tactical truce to rearm and regroup.
Why am I skeptical? Oh yeah - I'm not a f*cking idiot. Right.
That big planter seems like an awful dumb place to be stuck in during a firefight.
It's all about jostling for power right now. And it's hard to believe that any stability will be maintained. Not for a very long, long time.
Is it just me or does that guy in the picture look really familiar, i.e. he shows up in every picture of Sadr's "militia"? IOW, is this guy the Greg Packer of the Middle East?
Send 'em to Falluja for a rumble...
Separated at birth?
LOL!!! You mean Ali fuj-Packer?
Nothing like saying you want to help when they've got you cornered in your rat hole.
Nailing this guy would, literally, be like shooting fish in a barrel.
A turning point would be if/when the Iraqi insurgents turned on the Al-Queda types.
24 Jun 2004 17:14:18 GMT
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
BAGHDAD, June 24 (Reuters) - Shi'ite militiamen loyal to radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr declared a unilateral ceasefire on Thursday in a Baghdad slum -- their last holdout against U.S. troops.
The move is the latest sign that Sadr is softening his hard line against U.S. troops and their Iraqi political allies ahead of the formal handover of power from the U.S.-led occupation to an interim government next week.
"For the sake of public interest and considering the sensitive situation the oppressed Iraqi people are under, the Central Mehdi Army Command announces a halt to military operations within Sadr City," a statement said.
"The Mehdi Army wants the security situation to stabilise and does not want those who are bent on causing chaos in the run up to the power transfer to succeed," said the statement obtained by Reuters.
Sadr agreed last month to withdraw his forces from the holy Shi'ite cities of Najaf and Kerbala in central Iraq under pressure from moderate Shi'ite leaders.
His new approach has opened political doors. Iraq's interim president Ghazi al-Yawar urged Sadr this month to lay down his arms and enter politics, a prospect which U.S. President George W. Bush said he would not oppose.
Residents of the cities said U.S. forces killed hundreds of civilians and Mehdi Army fighters in a campaign to crush Sadr's revolt in central and southern Iraq.
The U.S. army said no civilians were intentionally targeted and accused Sadr's militiamen of carrying out attacks from civilian areas such as mosques.
The ceasefire declaration in Sadr City was the first tangible signal that Sadr intends to pacify his fighters in Baghdad.
The slum of about two million people, formerly known as Saddam City, was renamed after the war in honour of Sadr's uncle and father -- considered national martyrs for resisting Saddam Hussein.
Sadr's followers say they started their revolt partly because millions of young unemployed Shi'ites continue to be neglected in post-war Iraq and point to a lack of projects in Sadr city, one of the poorest areas of Baghdad.
Under the announced truce, Sadr's militia will not fire on U.S. convoys that patrol Sadr city, but reserve the right of "self defence" if U.S. forces storm their premises.
Ali al-Lami, one of several Shi'ite politicians close to Sadr, told Reuters that the cleric has come to realise that Iraq's priority is stability, not driving out the U.S. forces.
"He accepts that terrorism has to stop," said Lami. "The national will is against violence."
Sadr faces an arrest warrant in connection with the murder of a moderate Shi'ite cleric last year but it is unclear whether he will face justice.
Ping
"The Al-Queda types want to turn Iraq into a permanent bloody basketcase, whereas Sadr simply wants to seize power for himself."
I would change that only slightly to: "The Al-Queda types want to turn Iraq into a Sunni Islamic Republic Ruled by them, whereas Sadr simply wants to turn it into a Shiite Islamic Republic ruled by himself."
Bad time to be carrying around a mirror in Sadr City, it sounds.
Is this the old "telling 'em what they want to hear" strategy?
Especially since it could be reduced to rubble in seconds (and the moron in it) by a single .50 cal burst.
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