Sadr promises 'civil revolt'
Reuters Mar 25, 08 11:32 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Iraqi security forces fought pitched gun battles through the streets of Basra today, trying to wrest control of the oil-rich city from Mahdi Army militants. An enraged Muqtada al Sadr promised a “civil revolt” if the attacks on his faction didn’t stop and ordered police cleared from the streets of his Sadr City slum stronghold in Baghdad, Reuters reports.
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One of 5 missing
since May asks for prisoner exchange
Times (UK) Feb 27, 08 10:27 AM CST
(Newser)
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One of the five British men kidnapped in Baghdad eight months ago appeared on Arab television last night, begging Prime Minister Gordon Brown to free nine Iraqi prisoners in exchange for the Britons. “Release their people so that we can go home. It’s as simple as that," Peter Moore said in remarks dubbed into Arabic. It was the first sign of the hostages since December, writes the Times of London.
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Five men file suit, say soldiers killed and tortured 20 captives
BBC Feb 22, 08 2:35 PM CST
(Newser)
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British soldiers killed up to 20 Iraqi captives after a 2004 firefight, say lawyers representing five men taken prisoner that day, the BBC reports. The men—described by their lawyers as laborers, not insurgents—say they heard UK soldiers killing and torturing captives at a British base after the gun battle. The lawyers say soldiers also mutilated corpses. British defense officials deny the allegations.
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Rumors confirmed as cleric calls on Mahdi Army to freeze activities
Wall Street Journal Feb 22, 08 7:38 AM CST
(Newser)
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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 the ceasefire to expire tomorrow.
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Six-month renewal of cleric's truce key to Iraq security gains, US says
Reuters Feb 21, 08 11:57 AM CST
(Newser)
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Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will prolong by six months the ceasefire that has reduced violence across Iraq, officials tell Reuters. Sadr today sent a sealed sermon to mosques across Iraq to be read during midday prayers tomorrow. Exact details won’t be known until those envelopes are unsealed, but “the general idea is that there will be an extension,” an official said.
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Will expire Saturday unless cleric renews; could jeopardize gains in security
Radio Free Europe Feb 20, 08 11:28 AM CST
(Newser)
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The ceasefire ordered last August by Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr expires Saturday, and unless he renews it, his Mahdi Army will again take up arms—raising US fears that gains in staunching sectarian bloodshed across Iraq could jeopardized. Al-Sadr hasn't signaled his intentions, but some say US and Iraqi raids in the south of the country have antagonized Sadrists, increasing calls to end the ceasefire.
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Common enemies inspire peculiar alliance
Newsweek Nov 12, 07 5:27 PM CST
(Newser)
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The US military and the man who was once considered the most powerful destabilizing force in Iraq, Moqtada al-Sadr, now have a common enemy: rogue members of Sadr's Mahdi Army. Since Sadr declared a ceasefire three months ago, US commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, have been secretly meeting with Sadr's deputies to cooperate on fighting the Iran-funded splinter militias, Newsweek reports.
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Iraqi army finds eight of 10 kidnapped sheiks
CNN Oct 29, 07 5:51 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A roadside bomb blew shrapnel today into the highest-ranking US commander yet injured in Iraq, CNN reports. U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Dorko, who had taken command October 10, was evacuated to Germany after the bomb detonated by his vehicle in Baghdad. His injuries were not life-threatening and he remained in stable condition, Reuters reports.
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Iraqi witnesses claim women, children among the dead
Reuters Oct 21, 07 1:13 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The US military said it killed 49 gunmen today in a Sadr City raid aimed at capturing an Iranian-linked rebel leader suspected of kidnapping coalition members and foreigners. But Iraqi witnesses pin the death toll at 13, including two toddlers, Reuters reports. Military officials were mum on whether the rogue Mehdi Army foreman was apprehended.
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Shot taking photos in embattled neighborhood
Washington Post Oct 15, 07 5:59 AM CDT
(Newser)
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A Washington Post correspondent in Iraq was killed yesterday reporting from one of the most volatile neighborhoods in Baghdad. Iraqi Salih Saif Aldin, 32, was shot in the head while taking photographs of burned-out homes. US news organizations rely heavily on Iraqi correspondents willing to brave the hazards outside the heavily fortified Green Zone.
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As al-Sadr's militia degenerates, locals seek out US military
New York Times Oct 12, 07 1:22 PM CDT
(Newser)
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In Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, a substantial shift in allegiances is under way, the Times reports: locals are beginning to turn from the Mahdi Army, the militia that once represented their best defense against Sunni insurgents. A lack of coherent ideology has turned a militia into a gang, and local Shiites have been horrified by the growing incidence of intrasectarian violence.
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Sides that clashed
in Karbala seek to
curb bloodshed
Reuters Oct 6, 07 3:02 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Two Shiite leaders made peace in Iraq today in hope of ending their bitter feud and curbing bloodshed, Reuters reports. Moqtada Al-Sadr and Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, leaders of parliament's main Shiite blocs, agreed to form committees and solve problems together around the country. Fighting between the factions has intensified this year in areas ignored by US forces.
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Dialogue with radical group represents a reverse face
Los Angeles Times Sep 12, 07 9:14 AM CDT
(Newser)
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US officials are holding their noses and negotiating with the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, the LA Times reports. The US has held a hard line against the radical cleric, but analysts say that the military has grudgingly accepted that the Mahdi Army is currently holding most of the cards in Baghdad's power struggle.
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US cites ambush by Shiite militia; Sadr says victims were civilians
Los Angeles Times Sep 6, 07 9:20 PM CDT
(Newser)
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US and Iraqi forces backed by airstrikes clashed with suspected members of Shiite militias today in a gun battle that killed 14 Iraqis and wounded nine, reports the LA Times. US officials said soldiers were ambushed by more than a dozen rooftop gunmen, but a spokesman for anti-US cleric Muqtada Sadr called the airstrikes a ploy “to terrify innocent people.”
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