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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Sadrists

Sadrists stories: 13 news summaries
ANALYSIS

 Iraq Militias 
 Kill Gays 
  With Impunity 

Government's unwillingness to protect gays points to a bleak future for all Iraqis

Sep 10, 09 7:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - Iraq's militias have switched from slaughtering rivals to killing men they suspect of being homosexuals, and the Iraqi government is turning a blind eye, Rasha Moumneh writes in Foreign Policy. Gay men have been kidnapped, tortured, and murdered in rising numbers since the start of this year, but not a... More »

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Iraq • gay rights • murder • homosexuality • Iraqi government • Sadrists • Iraqi militias • Muqtada al-Sadr

Iraqi Shiites Ditch Maliki in New Coalition

Group favors a government more closely allied with Iran

Aug 24, 09 9:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - Iraq’s major Shiite parties have formed a new coalition without Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki or his Dawa Party, they announced today. That means that unless Maliki finds new allies, he will likely lose his job following the January elections. If the new coalition wins a majority, he’ll be... More »

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Iraq • Iran • Shiite • Iraqi Parliament • Nouri al-Maliki • Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council • Sadrists • Muqtada al-Sadr • Iraqi elections

analysis

Maliki Charts Post-Sectarian Politics in Iraq

Shiite PM teams with secular Sunnis and even militant cleric

Mar 20, 09 7:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Shiite party of PM Nouri al-Maliki has allied itself with Sunni political figures and even Moqtada al-Sadr, a major departure from earlier politics that followed ethnic and sectarian lines. writes Anthony Shadid in the Washington Post. All support a strong central government and advocate a united Iraq over a... More »

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Iraq • Sunni • Shiite • Nouri al-Maliki • Iraqi government • Sadrists • Muqtada al-Sadr • Iraqi elections • Sunni Awakening • Dawa

Fisticuffs Over Security Deal End Session of Iraqi Parliament

Sadr ally allegedly shoves speaker

Nov 19, 08 3:16 PM CST
(Newser) - Discussion of the security deal between the US and Iraq deteriorated into a shouting match between members of the Iraqi parliament today, the New York Times reports. Parliament is scheduled to vote on the measure next week, but could not get through a reading of the agreement today before an... More »

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Iraq • Iraqi Parliament • United States • America • Iraq parliament • Iraq security • Sadrists • Muqtada al-Sadr

Leaving Iraq, Petraeus Sees Gains as Fragile

Violence is down, but 'it's not durable yet,' says general

Aug 21, 08 5:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - David Petraeus is leaving Iraq after 18 months, and by all measures the country is far safer than when he arrived. The "surge" of 30,000 extra American soldiers was bolstered by major domestic developments, from the Muqtada al-Sadr ceasefire to the rise of Sunni awakening councils. But in... More »

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Iraq • David Petraeus • surge • Petraeus Crocker plan • Iraq Civil War • Iraqi government • Sadrists • Muqtada al-Sadr

Sadr Cultivates Respect, Image to Reflect Power

Militia chief moves toward mainstream, hones clerical chops

May 27, 08 1:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - Muqtada al-Sadr aims to shed his reputation as a dim-witted thug and become a respected Iraqi cleric like his father, the Washington Post reports, and has even spent the past year studying in Iran. Sadr, then nicknamed "Muqtada Atari" for his love of video games, was 25 when the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iraq • Sadr City • Mahdi Army • cleric • Sadrists • Shiite cleric • Muqtada al-Sadr

 Sadr Threatens to End Truce 

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

Apr 8, 08 3:02 PM CDT
(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... More »

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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

Iraqi PM:
No Elections
for Militias

Mahdi Army must disband, Maliki says,
or lose political power

Apr 7, 08 8:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - Muqtada al-Sadr and his loyalists will be banned from upcoming elections if the Mahdi Army doesn't disband, Nouri al-Maliki said today, in his toughest rhetoric yet against the popular cleric. Sadrists say the Iraqi PM has no constitutional power to make that threat, but even if lawmakers succeed in banning... More »

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Iraq • Sadr City • Mahdi Army • Green Zone • Nouri al-Maliki • Iraq government • Sadrists • Iraqi militias • Muqtada al-Sadr

 1,000 Iraqis 
 Deserted Basra Battle

Officers and men fled or balked as government battled militias

Apr 4, 08 5:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Desertions from Iraqi forces during last week's Basra battles have raised fresh doubts about the effectiveness of the country's US-trained security forces, the New York Times reports. Over 1,000 soldiers and policemen—including dozens of officers—either deserted or refused to fight. The US has linked American troop withdrawals... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iraq • Nouri al-Maliki • Basra • troop withdrawal • Shiite militia • Iraqi security forces • Iraq Army • Iraq police • Sadrists • desertion

 Iraqi Assault on Basra
 Was 'Thrown Together' 

Americans taken aback by Maliki's hasty,
improvised raid

Apr 3, 08 6:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - American officials were expecting a gradual, methodical operation when Nouri al-Maliki moved Iraqi troops into Basra to restore order in the city. What they witnessed instead was a rush job: an Iraqi raid that had little forethought and began even before the last of the soldiers had arrived. "He... More »

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Iraq • Nouri al-Maliki • David Petraeus • Ryan Crocker • Basra • Sadrists • Iraqi militias • Muqtada al-Sadr

Iraqi Lawmakers to Meet
as Violence Escalates

Baghdad under curfew as militants in Basra hold their ground

Mar 27, 08 9:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Iraqi lawmakers will hold an emergency session in Baghdad tomorrow to try to find a way to resolve the escalating violence in Basra and the capital, Reuters reports. Baghdad, its Green Zone rocked by steady rocket and mortar fire, is now under a three-day curfew, and the State Department ordered... More »

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Iraq • Baghdad • Nouri al-Maliki • Basra • Iraq Civil War • Sadrists • Muqtada al-Sadr

 Sadrists Resist Crackdown, 
 Demand Maliki's Ouster  

Intra-Shiite battle pounds on in Basra

Mar 27, 08 6:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - Followers of Muqtada al-Sadr marched in Baghdad today, denouncing Nouri al-Maliki's US-backed government as non-representative, while the onslaught in Basra continued for a third day. Explosions were heard in the city every 10 to 15 minutes and more than 100 are already dead, Reuters reports. Residents of Iraq's second-largest city,... More »

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Nouri al-Maliki • Basra • Iraq Civil War • Sadrists • Muqtada al-Sadr

Sadr Extends Ceasefire 6 Months

Rumors confirmed as cleric calls on Mahdi Army to freeze activities

Feb 22, 08 7:38 AM CST
(Newser) - Muqtada al-Sadr has extended the ceasefire of his Mahdi Army by six months, writes the Wall Street Journal, confirming yesterday's rumors from US officials. At midday prayers across Iraq imams read out the announcement of the Shiite cleric, who had been under pressure from some of his followers to allow... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iraq • Mahdi Army • ceasefire • Sadrists • Shiite cleric • Muqtada al-Sadr

13 Stories


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