http://www.thestar.com/News/article/233661
Iraq’s Sadr back in Iran, military sources say
July 08, 2007 (excerpt)
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Fiery Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has gone back to neighbouring Iran, U.S. military sources in Baghdad said today. Earlier this year, U.S. officials said the anti-American cleric was hiding in Iran to avoid a major security crackdown in Baghdad, although his aides say he never left Iraq. “Our sources do show Moqtada in Iran,” one U.S. military source said, declining to speculate on why Sadr had gone back. A senior aide to Sadr denied the cleric had left Iraq.
Sadr disappeared from public view shortly before the launch of a U.S.-led offensive in Baghdad in February but re-emerged in the holy Shi’ite Iraqi city of Kufa on May 25. Analysts had speculated Sadr had returned to reassert his authority over his Mehdi Army militia, which the U.S. military says has begun breaking into splinter groups. . .
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BUL853592.htm
Rift between Sadr bloc and Iraqi PM widens
08 Jul 2007 15:47:54 GMT
Source: Reuters (excerpt)
BAGHDAD, July 8 (Reuters) - A powerful Shi’ite bloc lashed out at Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Sunday after he accused it of failing to take a clear stance on violence, signalling a deepening rift between Maliki and a former backer. Followers from the movement of anti-American Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose support propelled Maliki into the prime minister’s office last year, also held street protests in Baghdad in the wake of the Iraqi leader’s comments on Saturday.
“This government is at the edge of an abyss. It will collapse,” said Ahmed al-Shaibany, a prominent cleric and member of Sadr’s inner circle of advisers. “Maliki ... wants to send a message to the (U.S.) occupiers: ‘I can implement your requests’ ... We tell you that you are committing a mistake,” he said in a statement. . .
http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/news/world/20070708-Iraq-cleric-Sadr-Maliki-PM.html
France 24 - 24 hour International News Channel
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Sadr movement warns Iraqi PM to back off
By AFP (excerpt)
NAJAF, Iraq, July 8, 2007 (AFP) - Followers of Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr accused Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of attacking them in order to appease his US allies Sunday and warned him his days in office might be numbered. On Saturday, Maliki issued a bluntly worded statement calling on Sadr’s Mahdi Army to put aside its weapons and alleged the movement had been infiltrated by terrorist supporters of Saddam Hussein’s ousted regime.
Sadr’s aides reacted with fury, and some suggested the statement had been designed to pave the way for a crackdown on their populist Shiite movement, which fields one of Iraq’s largest armed militias. “Maliki’s statement is just like a green light to occupation troops to strike and annihilate the Sadr movement,” said Salah al-Ubaidi, Sadr’s spokesman at his headquarters in the holy city of Najaf.
US commanders blame Sadr’s army for much of Iraq’s sectarian violence and say they have evidence some of his commanders work for secret cells controlled by officers from neighbouring Iran’s covert Qods Force. In recent weeks and months there have been several raids by Iraqi and US forces on Mahdi Army strongholds in Baghdad, while in the south of the country the militia has fought street battles with Iraqi and British forces. . .
Britain’s PM Brown: World Must Work Together to End Terror
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6cbGX2L954w
Sky News interviews British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the need for increased international sharing of intelligence. This is on the heels of security leader Admiral Alan West saying the overall threat to Britain is at its highest level ever and the country has at least a 15 year battle ahead.
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Why Doctors? Tactics of a Terror Attack Against the West
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5D0nKQC-qFA
“Quiet; unassuming; professional.” CNN’s Week at War explains that one reason Doctors are a target for recruiting is that al Qai’da seeks people who will not be detected in a world of increasing surveillance.