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Some Mahdis Going Freelance

What's worse than Moqtada al-Sadr? The Mahdi Army ignoring him

By J. Kelman,  Newser User

Posted May 2, 2007 1:58 PM CDT

(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."

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 Muqtada al-Sadr strongly condemned construction of a wall around a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad, calling for demonstrations against the plan as...
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 previous day's raid. A joint American-Iraqi raid to capture high-value individuals in the north Baghdad district of Kazimiyah left one...
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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