Al-Sadr's War

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February 2008
- Al-Sadr to Extend Ceasefire
  
  Reuters | Feb 21, 08 11:57 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
- Al-Sadr May Call Off Ceasefire
  
  Radio Free Europe | Feb 20, 08 11:28 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
- CBS Journalist to Be Freed 'Within Hours'
  
  AFP | Feb 13, 08 5:00 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - A kidnapped British journalist working for CBS and his translator are to be freed "within hours," according to the office of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Sadrists conducted negotiations with the kidnappers, who took the two hostage at gunpoint from a hotel in Basra, AFP reports. The captives have not been identified, but the journalist's wife said, "We are praying for him to be safe." More »
December 2007
- Car Bombs Kill at Least 40 in Amara, Iraq
  
  CNN | Dec 12, 07 6:12 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - A series of near-simultaneous car bombs killed at least 40 and injured dozens this morning in Amara, a Shiite-dominated city in southeastern Iraq, CNN reports. The British military handed the area to Iraqi forces in August, 2006; it has been the scene of increasingly violent confrontations between Shiite factions. More »
November 2007
- US Teams With Al-Sadr
  
  Newsweek | Nov 12, 07 5:27 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
October 2007
- Baghdad Shiites Turn Away From Mahdi Army
  
  New York Times | Oct 12, 07 1:22 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
September 2007
- US Forces Talking With Sadr's Army
  
  Los Angeles Times | Sep 12, 07 9:14 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
August 2007
- US Kills 30 in Baghdad
  
  BBC | Aug 8, 07 5:21 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The US killed 30 militants and detained another dozen in an overnight air strike on a military stronghold in a Shiite district of Baghdad. Witnesses counted women and children among the slain, though the US claims all 30 were insurgents linked to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. More »
June 2007
- Minarets Hit at Sacred Shrine
  
  Associated Press | Jun 13, 07 7:49 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Askariya mosque, a Shiite shrine whose bombing ignited sectarian violence last year, was attacked again this morning, destroying the minarets left standing after its Golden Dome was shattered earlier. Iraq now braces for a bloody response; US troops rushed to Samarra, and a curfew was called on group gatherings and auto traffic, the AP reports. More »
May 2007
- Al-Sadr Appears at Iraqi Mosque
  
  Associated Press | May 25, 07 8:22 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr emerged from hiding today, making a surprise appearance near the Iraqi city of Najaf. Al-Sadr, who fled to Iran four months ago, gave a sermon at Kufa today, condemning the US occupation and demanding a "timetable" for withdrawal. In a shift away from sectarianism, he encouraged Sunnis to join in peaceful opposition to the occupation. More »
- Shiite al-Sadr Reaches Out to Sunni Rivals
  
  Washington Post | May 20, 07 3:14 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In a dramatic shift in tacttics, Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is reaching out to rival Sunni leaders in Iraq, and purging radical elements of his own militia, the Washington Post reports. With Sunni insurgents making moves to distance themselves from al-Qaeda, Sadr sees an opportunity for a cross-sectarian political alliance, aides tell the Post . More »
April 2007
- Iraqi PM Calls Off Wall
  
  New York Times | Apr 23, 07 6:07 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki halted construction of a wall between a Sunni neighborhood and surrounding Shiite areas in Baghdad yesterday, after outraged protests by both Sunnis and Shiites. Al-Maliki said he did not want Iraqis to be reminded of "other walls"—a reference to the barrier being built by Israel in the West Bank. More »
- Al-Sadr Cronies Quit Cabinet
  
  Los Angeles Times | Apr 16, 07 1:33 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Six cabinet members loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have made good on their threat to resign from the Iraqi parliament, after the Prime Minister refused to set a date for the Americans to leave. But they insist—in spite of a spate of violence yesterday and today that many blame on Sadr's Madhi Army—that the move is intended to strengthen the government. More »
- Sadr Orders Loyalists to Quit Iraqi Cabinet
  
  Washington Post | Apr 16, 07 6:31 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Six Iraqi cabinet ministers are expected to resign today on orders from Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. "We are going to declare our withdrawal from government because the prime minister does not want to make a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq," a Sadr official told the Guardian . More »
- Anti-American Protests Mark Iraqi Anniversary
  
  Associated Press | Apr 9, 07 6:49 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Tens of thousands of Iraqis converged today on the southern city of Najaf, a Shia shrine, to mark the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad. Waving Iraqi flags and chanting anti-U.S. slogans, demonstators marched from Kufa to neighboring Najaf. AP reports that two cordons of Iraqi police lined the route, while others soldiers, in uniform, joined the crowd. More »
- Al-Sadr Preaches Peace — But Not Toward U.S.
  
  CNN | Apr 8, 07 5:56 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on Iraqis Sunday to stop killing each other—and join together to rid their country of Americans. On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, he urged both Iraqi forces and insurgents to direct their fight against "the occupiers," CNN reported. More »
- Al-Sadr attempts to re-position himself as a leader of all Iraqis.
  
  Knight Ridder | Apr 8, 07
March 2007
- Sadr City Safest Spot in Baghdad
  
  Washington Post | Mar 27, 07 12:54 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Six weeks into the surge the vast Baghdad slum called Sadr City is the safest and best-run part of the city—but not because of the stepped-up efforts on the part of government forces. Moqtada al-Sadr is said to be somewhere in Iran, but his representatives run hospitals, school, courts, police, and mosques. More »
- Gunmen Ambush Sadr City Mayor
  
  New York Times | Mar 16, 07 12:07 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The mayor of Sadr City was wounded and his police chief killed in an ambush yesterday, creating new challenges for the U.S. military effort to bring security to the Shiite stronghold and rein in the Mahdi Army. The mayor, Rahim al-Daraji, has been a key figure in negotiating with American officials to disarm the militia. More »
November 2006
- Al-Sadr loyalists take over Iraqi television station.