Posted on 05/09/2008 9:20:49 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
BAGHDAD — Followers of rebel cleric Muqtada al Sadr agreed late Friday to allow Iraqi security forces to enter all of Baghdad's Sadr City and to arrest anyone found with heavy weapons in a surprising capitulation that seemed likely to be hailed as a major victory for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki.
In return, Sadr's Mahdi Army supporters won the Iraqi government's agreement not to arrest Mahdi Army members without warrants, unless they were in possession of "medium and heavy weaponry."
The agreement would end six weeks of fighting in the vast Shiite Muslim area that's home to more than 2 million residents and would mark the first time that the area would be under government control since Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. On Friday, 15 people were killed and 112 were injured in fighting, officials at the neighborhoods two major hospitals said.
It also would be a startling turnaround in fortunes for Maliki, who'd been widely criticized for picking a fight with Sadr's forces, first in the southern port city of Basra and then in Sadr City.
Members of Maliki's Dawa Party and the powerful Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq met with Sadr officials on Thursday and Friday to come up with a 14-point agreement to end the weeks of fighting, which has hindered the flow of food and water into Sadr City. The agreement was then passed to Sadr and Maliki for final approval, said Baha al Araji, a Sadrist legislator.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcclatchydc.com ...
Late news ping!
BUMP
Killing about a thousand of the Mahdi bastards seems to have awaken the rest that they were about to become toast.
Ah shucks. It would have been fun to see the bastards boxed in Sadr City and blown to bits, one building at a time.
Maybe next time. Paybacks a bitch, isn’t it Mookie?
Again, these monkeys respect brute force.
Lots of spin in the article....
What "isn't" going on is that they haven't eliminated this Muqtada al Sadr character and his militia. As long as they let him and people like him call the shots, Iraq will never be stable.
Strange use of the word “agreed”.....
Sadr’s “militia” didn’t have much choice!
The coalition forces kicked their freaking asses every time they dismounted from their goats — and moved in with force.
Now that the coalition forces are in fact in Sadr City -— the impotence of the glorious martyrdom seeking “militia” is exposed....
Sadr and his militia and ALL who stand with them must be destroyed..
The ONLY times they stand down - is when they fear defeat.
They should be DEFEATED.....TOTALLY...... DESTROYED.
We have neither the time, treasure or blood to play their silly Muslim games....for another century or two.
KILL THEM... or LEAVE the Iraqi to their own devices and fate.
It’s probably just a stalling tactic...
“Maybe next time.”
Probably “next time” isn’t all that far down the road. These asshats have a tendency to use such negotiations to rearm and rebuild their armies.
Agreed. Another cease fire to let them regroup.
"It is not the government who pressured the Sadrists into entering this agreement," said Ali al Adeeb, a leading member of the Dawa party. "It is the pressure from the people inside Sadr City and from their own people that will make them act more responsibly."
Followers of rebel cleric Muqtada al Sadr agreed late Friday to allow Iraqi security forces to enter all of Baghdad's Sadr City and to arrest anyone found with heavy weapons in a surprising capitulation that seemed likely to be hailed as a major victory for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki. In return, Sadr's Mahdi Army supporters won the Iraqi government's agreement not to arrest Mahdi Army members without warrants, unless they were in possession of "medium and heavy weaponry.""What? That recoilless rocket launcher on the ground over there? No, I have no idea whose that is. I also don't know why you found huge stockpiles of automatic weapons ammo in my shed. I haven't used that shed since before the fall of Saddam." Etc. Thanks Ernest.
This event marks Iran’s total defeat in Iraq. On to Mosul for Syria’s. Long live Iraq!
Excellent post!
Let? They were coming in one way or another … LET! Please, they knew that the hammer was about to fall and they Sadr’ed out. Cowards. Typical of Mohammad’s troopers.
I hope its not an ambush.
Just guessing, but I think they just need a time-out to rearm/resupply.
Now they need to weed out some of those clerics who are stirring up the masses.
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