Baghdad stadium to shelter Iraqis fleeing Sadr City danger

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A top official in Baghdad said the capital's biggest stadium is one of three locations being prepared for residents fleeing Baghdad's Sadr City, where Iraqi and U.S. forces have been fighting Shiite militants for weeks.

Tahseen al-Sheikhly, the civilian spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, said no more than 400 families have fled the war-torn neighborhood so far. There have been reports that thousands of people have fled.

Al-Sheikhly discounted reports that soldiers have been using loudspeakers to tell people to leave. He said "criminal gangs" are spreading the rumor to generate fears among the populace that a big strike is being prepared by security forces. He said gangs are trying to generate hatred of security forces by distributing a "fabricated" video of coalition forces assaulting a woman.

Those families that are leaving, he said, are residents who have been cooperating with security forces, families of security forces who have been threatened, and people who have been "held hostage by the criminal gangs."

He said one man left after he protested to insurgents that they were planting a roadside bomb too close to his house and the insurgents told him to leave the area.

From the Blogosphere ( Strata Sphere):

Iraq Applies More Pressure On Sadr To Disband Militia

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Yep, things are definitely coming to a between Sadr’s Iranian (i.e., Persian) backed Mahdi Militia and the Iraqi (i.e., Arab) Shiite led government of Iraq. Before the latest news on the pressure being brought to bear on Moqtada al-Sadr to end the stand-off peacefully, I want to reference coverage of a recent news show from Iraq to set the local context, which is sorely lacking from the Western Media’s reporting:

Al-Ramahi begins by saying that although “intermittent clashes” continue between the Iraqi security forces assisted by US forces and the supporters of Shi’i leader Muqtada al-Sadr, both sides criticize Iran and “hold it responsible for the incidents in Iraq.” She adds that the current Iraqi Government’s position has changed towards Iran, and that it has begun “to directly accuse Iran of fanning violence in Iraq.” She notes that a huge amount of Iranian weapons has been revealed in addition to documents that indict Iran in this regard. Al-Ramahi says that observers were surprised to hear Salih al-Ubaydi, spokesman for the Al-Sadr Trend, strongly criticize Iran. She notes that the recent criticism coincides with former Iranian President Khatami’s criticism of the Iranian regime, in which he stressed that exporting violence to other countries, which he did not name, is “treason against Islam and the Iranian Revolution.”
…
The programme then presents a three-minute report by Najah Muhammad Ali. Ali says that when the United States accused Iran of interfering in Iraq to undermine its stability, Iran’s supporters in the Iraqi Government, including the president and the prime minister, did not hesitate to defend Iran. However, he says that the situation changed following Operation Charge of the Knights in Basra and the international conference that was held recently in Kuwait.

So from the attached article:
"Al-Maliki says that the Iranian Government has not accused the Al-Sadr Trend of being a militia. He notes that the issue of militias, including the Al- Mahdi Army, is complicated because some groups carry arms to defend the Iraqi people and expel the occupiers, which is legitimate, while other groups seek to undermine stability."
Are militias legal or not in Iraq. That is the question. And when are they allowed to go against the wishes of the Iraqi government. The US and Coalition forces are at this point temporary guest of their nation to help further stabilize and rebuild Iraq as well as exterminate remaining al Qaeda forces and other groups that attempt to destabilize this new government.
Has it not registered as of yet with these people the Iraqi Government will indicate when it wants foreign forces to leave it's land. Apparently I answered my own question.

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