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Some Mahdis Going Freelance

Posted May 2, 07 1:58 PM CDT in World 

(Newser) – The Madhi Army is letting loose. Officially locked down by leader Moqtada al-Sadr during the troop surge, renegade Mahdis are unleashing a wave of random violence on once-peaceful areas of central and southern Iraq, Newseek reports. That worries even al-Sadr's commanders, who are now seeking U.S. help to control their wayward acolytes.

The Army's undisciplined spread has provoked internecine fighting in areas controlled by other Shiite militias. Even more troubling is a potential anti-American alliance with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. But al-Sadr himself may have the most to lose. "If you love the Sadr movement," he told his followers, "then listen and obey."

Source Newsweek

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Followers of radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rally in protest against building security barriers in Shiite district of Sadr City in Baghdad, Wednesday, April 25, 2007. Radical Shiite cleric...   (Associated Press)
Followers carrying posters of radical anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his late father Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr rally in Kazimiyah district of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, April 30, 2007, condemning the...   (Associated Press)
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Iraq • Iraq war • Iran • troop surge • Moqtada al-Sadr • Shiite • violence • Mahdi Army • Revolutionary Guards • militia


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