Posted on 10/20/2006 5:37:47 AM PDT by Eurotwit
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Shiite militia run by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr seized total control of the southern Iraqi city of Amarah on Friday in one of the boldest acts of defiance yet by one of the country's powerful, unofficial armies, witnesses and police said.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki dispatched an emergency security delegation that included the Minister of State for Security Affairs and top officials from the Interior and Defense ministries, Yassin Majid, the prime minister's media adviser, told The Associated Press.
The Mahdi Army fighters stormed three main police stations Friday morning, planting explosives that flattened the buildings, residents said.
About 800 black-clad militiamen with Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers were patrolling city streets in commandeered police vehicles, eyewitnesses said. Other fighters had set up roadblocks on routes into the city and sound trucks circulated telling residents to stay indoors.
Fighting broke out in Amara on Thursday after the head of police intelligence in the surrounding province, a member of the rival Shiite Badr Brigade militia, was killed by a roadside bomb, prompting his family to kidnap the teenage brother of the local head of the a-Madhi Army.
The Mahdi Army seized several police stations and clamped a curfew on the city in retaliation.
At least 15 people, including five militiamen, one policeman and two bystanders, have been killed in clashes since Friday, Dr. Zamil Shia, director of Amarah's department of health, said by telephone from Amarah.
The events in the city highlight the threat of wider violence between rival Shiite factions, who have entrenched themselves among the majority Shiite population and are blamed for killings of rival Sunnis.
Mahdi Army militiamen have long enjoyed a free rein in Amarah, the provincial capital of the southern province of Maysan. The militiamen often summon local government officials for meetings at their offices, and they roam the city with their weapons, manipulate the local police and set up checkpoints at will.
Since British troops left Amarah in August, residents say the militia has been involved in a series of killings, including slayings of merchants suspected of selling alcohol and women alleged to have engaged in behavior deemed immoral by militiamen.
CNN reported there were rumours that Sadr has called on the militiamen to calm down...
I see duplicity in everything he does and says.
He wins either way: he can increase his power in the area either through the militia or through sacrificing some of them to the central government.
Hmmmmm........
"Muqtada al-Sadr is a pos that should have been terminated a long time ago. Big Blunder by our military, imo."
This was a decision that wasn't made by the military. Rather it was a decision that was made by the Defense Department, aka Donald Rumsfeld.
Elected govt?
It is little more than a creature of the Shiite parties with a lot of Iranian influence.
Let's not forget that Maliki could not have won power without Sadr's parliamentary votes.
an even better plan ;-)
Almost the perfect approach to this problem.
The one defect to this approach can be cured by offering a hefty reward for the delivery of Sadr's ugly head on a stick.
Big Blunder by our military, imo.
Well, the way I see it, this is a time to make things happen. TELL Iraq's president to get word to those in the city that want to live to leave.
Then light up the entire city, take out Mookies entire militia once and for all. Melt the place.
If not, pull everything back to Kwait, and let them have at each other, then go slap down who's ever left standing.
Well, I think you and I know how to solve this little problem so... these guys need to get out of the way and let us lead!
Then why are our troops still being killed? I have no problems with Iraqis killing each other. There are stupid, backward animals. Their religion keeps them from accepting basic aspects of a republic/democracy (as we define it). We just need to do a better job of laying low while the Iraqis fight their civil war over who is the true heir to Muhammad.
Any war between sects of people in the same place is a civil war.
You'll probably be shouted down here, but I appreciate your posts on this thread.
US troops? To do what?
I keep hoping that the President and the military are doing things the way they are 'cause they know so much about the situation that we don't.
But sometimes I get really discouraged...
Updated: New York, Oct 20 14:35 Bloomberg
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