Iraqi prez condemns attacks but meets al-Sadr MPs
Reuters Apr 11, 08 8:02 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The murder of a Moqtada al-Sadr aide triggered heavy fighting in Baghdad today after al-Sadr’s men attacked US and Iraqi forces, Reuters reports. The cleric blamed “the hand of the occupier” for the death of Riyadh al-Nuri, a close relative, and vowed not to forget “this precious blood.” A US commander told CNN that battles broke out when a US patrol, backing Iraqi forces, ran into 10 roadside bombs and sustained heavy fire.
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Mahdi Army leader, 'worried' for Iraqis' safety, cancels anti-US protest
CNN Apr 8, 08 3:02 PM CDT
(Newser)
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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.
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Intra-sect feuds reign between Sadr loyalists and government bodies
Washington Post Apr 7, 08 2:40 PM CDT
(Newser)
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As violence between Sunni and Shiites has subsided in Iraq, animosity between Shiite sects is mounting, with a death toll to match, the Washington Post reports. The government's offensive last week against Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia in Basra exposed the grim reality of a widening political gulf. “They are our brothers," said a Mahdi Army leader. "But their political positions have changed them.”
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Mahdi Army must disband, Maliki says,
or lose political power
Associated Press Apr 7, 08 8:32 AM CDT
(Newser)
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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 parties that operate militias, the backlash could be violent, the AP reports.
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Another killed in roadside bombing; death count now 4,022
CNN Apr 6, 08 5:18 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Battles erupted in Baghdad today as rocket attacks killed three US soldiers and wounded 31, CNN reports. The first strike killed one and wounded 14 at a military outpost; “a couple of rounds of fire” killed two more and wounded 17 in the Green Zone soon after, a military official said. Earlier, US troops fought cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia, killing at least 20 and wounding 52 in Baghdad, the AFP reports.
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analysis
Nouri al-Maliki is now saying the assault wasn't political
Washington Post Apr 4, 08 1:06 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The Iraqi-led assault on Basra last week exposed the weaknesses of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the strength of Moqtada al-Sadr, the Washington Post concludes in its post-mortem of the unsuccessful foray. In not engaging parliament, political allies, or the Americans in planning the incursion, Maliki sought to demonstrate decisiveness, but showed ineptness instead.
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Maliki extends olive branch to Sadr after Basra battle
Associated Press Apr 4, 08 9:48 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Nouri al Maliki reversed course today, ordering a stop to raids against suspected Mahdi Army militants. The move is an apparent olive branch to Shiite rival Muqtada al Sadr, who had complained that raids against his militia fighters were continuing, even after he’d ordered them off the streets. Just yesterday, Maliki was calling for raids in both Basra and Sadr City.
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Americans taken aback by Maliki's hasty,
improvised raid
New York Times Apr 3, 08 6:37 AM CDT
(Newser)
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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 went in with a stick and he poked a hornet's nest," one coalition official told the New York Times .
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Iraqi lawmakers met cleric in Iran before deal was struck
CNN Mar 31, 08 6:58 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Iran played a key role in convincing Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to call a ceasefire in Basra yesterday, CNN reports. Iraqi lawmakers from five Shiite parties traveled to Iran on Friday to meet with al-Sadr, and returned yesterday, right before al-Sadr's injunction to halt violence in Basra, an Iraqi official said.
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Move comes a day after Sadr ordered militants to stand down
AFP Mar 31, 08 8:31 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Baghdad authorities lifted a 3-day-old curfew today as violence ebbed and soldiers from Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army began to heed his call yesterday to stand down, reports the AFP. The southern city of Basra also eased its curfew as 6 days of violent clashes wound down, although the BBC reported sporadic gunfire and parts of the city that were still under Mahdi Army control.
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Updated
He offers weakened Maliki a truce deal as violence continues
BBC Mar 30, 08 5:15 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters to leave the streets of Basra and other cities, reports the BBC, in an effort to end clashes with security forces. “Anyone carrying a weapon and targeting government institutions will not be one of us,” Sadr said, but minutes after his statement was released, militia shells hit Basra’s palace, and attacks on the Green Zone persisted throughout the day.
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US widens its airstrikes, and Sadr tells followers to keep their weapons
Daily Telegraph (UK) Mar 29, 08 11:27 AM CDT
(Newser)
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As the Iraqi army struggles to combat militias in Basra, British troops for the first time directly joined the fight, and American forces expanded their bombing beyond the militia stronghold. The Brits, who had previously provided only logistical and air support to the Iraqis, fired on an insurgent mortar team in Bosra, the Telegraph reports. Moqtada al-Sadr, meanwhile, told his soldiers not to surrender their weapons.
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