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Sadr Threatens to End Truce

Mahdi Army leader, 'worried' for Iraqis' safety, cancels anti-US protest

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 8, 2008 3:02 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr today threatened to end the cease-fire he imposed last year on his Mahdi militia, CNN reports, and called off a massive protest set for tomorrow, the fifth anniversary of the end of Saddam Hussein’s rule. Hundreds had converged on Baghdad—despite orders to keep young men out—before Sadr called off the event.

The cleric said the protest should be postponed because he worried for the safety of the demonstrators. The Mahdi Army, he added, will provide Iraqis with “all that they need,” even if it “requires ending the freeze to implement our goals, beliefs, religion, principles and nationalism.” Sadr’s more-combative stance likely comes as a result of the government’s recent failed offensive against the militia.

An anti-war protester demonstrates on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 8, 2008, during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the status of the war in Iraq.
An anti-war protester demonstrates on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 8, 2008, during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the status of the war in Iraq.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Chief spokesman for radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Salah al-Obeidi looks on during a news conference in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April. 8, 2008.
Chief spokesman for radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Salah al-Obeidi looks on during a news conference in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April. 8, 2008.   (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Iraqi security forces display detained militiamen along with seized weapons and ammunition, in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April. 8, 2008.
Iraqi security forces display detained militiamen along with seized weapons and ammunition, in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April. 8, 2008.   (AP Photo)
Iraqi security forces display detained militiamen along with seized weapons and ammunition, in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April. 8, 2008.
Iraqi security forces display detained militiamen along with seized weapons and ammunition, in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April. 8, 2008.   (AP Photo)
Iraqi security forces display detained militiamen along with seized weapons and ammunition, in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April. 8, 2008.
Iraqi security forces display detained militiamen along with seized weapons and ammunition, in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April. 8, 2008.   (AP Photo)
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Iraq • Saddam Hussein • Sunni • Sadr City • Mahdi Army • Nouri al-Maliki • US military • Shia • Iraq Civil War • Sadrists • Muqtada al-Sadr

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