BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 19, 2007
Top Al-Sadr Aide Arrested In Iraq
U.S., Iraqi Forces Arrest Senior Aide To Shiite Cleric In Charge Of Country's Largest Militia
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Play CBS Video Video Top Al-Sadr Aide Arrested One of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's top aides was arrested by U.S. forces. Officials accuse Hadi Abdul al-Darraji of being involved in attacks on Iraqi security forces. Lara Logan reports.
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Video Preparation For Troop Buildup The U.S. military is clearing the streets of Baghdad, cracking down on security in anticipation of a troop surge. Lara Logan reports.
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Muqtada al-Sadr (CBS)
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An explosion in a parked car in a busy shopping district on Jan. 18, 2007, in the religiously-mixed neighborhood of Ilwiya, Baghdad, killed 4 people and injured 10. (AP)
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Another Baghdad car bomb in front of a mosque, targeted a police patrol, killing two officers and wounding two others, while killing two civilians and wounding nine others, Jan. 18, 2007. (AP)
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A car bomb that killed one person and wounded eight others on Jan. 18, 2007, also damaged this bank in the al-Mashtal section of eastern Baghdad. (AP)
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A man prays at the Imam Ali shrine in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq, Jan. 18, 2007. (AP)
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An adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, however, denied the government knew in advance about the raid, in which Sheik Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji was captured and said the detention was not part of the new operation aimed at quelling Baghdad's sectarian violence.
"There was no coordination with the Iraqi political leadership and this arrest was not part of the new security plan," the adviser, Sadiq al-Rikabi, told Al-Arabiya. "Coordination with the Iraqi political leadership is needed before conducting such operations that draw popular reactions."
His comments reflected the differences between the United States and Iraq's Shiite-dominated government on how to deal with the Shiite militias that have been blamed for much of the recent violence, particularly the killings that have left dozens of tortured and bullet-riddled bodies daily in Baghdad and elsewhere.
The raid came as Defense Secretary Robert Gates began his second trip to Iraq in less than a month, arriving in the southern city of Basra to consult with British and other allied commanders.
Al-Darraji was captured and his guard was killed in a raid on a mosque complex in eastern Baghdad, according to senior officials with the cleric's movement.
The U.S. military said special Iraqi army forces operating with coalition advisers captured a high-level, illegal armed group leader in Baladiyat, an eastern neighborhood near al-Sadr's stronghold. It did not identify the detainee, but said two other suspects were detained by Iraqi forces for questioning.
It said the main suspect was involved in the kidnapping, torture and murder of civilians, as well as the assassination of Iraqi security forces and government officials.
But al-Sadr's office said al-Darraji was the movement's media director in Baghdad and demanded his immediate release.
"We strongly condemn this cowardly act," said Sheik Abdul-Zahra al-Suweiadi, a senior al-Sadr aide in Baghdad.
Al-Sadr said in an interview with an Italian newspaper published Friday that the crackdown had already begun and that 400 of his men had been arrested, confirming an earlier statement by al-Maliki. La Repubblica also quoted the cleric as saying he fears for his life and stays constantly on the move.
Al-Sadr told the newspaper his militias would not fight back during the Muslim holy month of Muharram, saying it was against the faith to kill at that time. Muharram starts Friday for Sunnis and Saturday for Shiites.
"Let them kill us. For a true believer there is no better moment than this to die: Heaven is ensured," he was quoted as saying. "After Muharram, we'll see."
One of al-Sadr's fighters told CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan by telephone from Sadr City, "Our orders are not to fight, for now.”
Al-Sadr said he is being targeted.
"For this reason, I have moved my family to a secure location. I even have had a will drawn up, and I move continuously in a way that only few can know where I am," he was quoted as saying.
Militia commanders have said the Shiite prime minister has stopped protecting the fighters under pressure from Washington and have described pinpoint raids in which at least five top commanders of similar standing were captured or killed in recent months.
Al-Maliki has pledged to rein in the Shiite militias as well as Sunni insurgents in the security operation. His reluctance to confront the Mahdi Army of al-Sadr, his political backer, contributed to the failure of previous efforts to stem sectarian violence.
But al-Rikabi stressed that "the new security plan does not target a specific militia, it targets everyone practicing killing and terrorism against civilians, whether Sunnis or Shiites."
In other developments:
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 27 CommentsAmen Brother....
They have got to kill that ***. I don't care what dat it is. Give him his wish if he thinks it is such great accomplishment.
MORE GOOD NEWS.
Good News
Bin-Laden: No you idiot. I said I want ONLY the Cohiba brand cigars. A were is my Five grand bottle of french wine to go with it? ***? didn't someone pay tha satellite bill? I can't get CBS on tha 52' plasma to watch my favorite soap "As Iraq turns." That is NOT the french wine I demanded idiot! Keep it up and your off on a suicide mission. Oh sh*t! here comes Aymen! Hide everything. Use some potpourri to freshin the cave and hide tha *** wine too!...............................................
is that all you can do is sling mud
I am not paid by anyone, it just amazes me that you can be so easily mis-lead. Mainstream media, which includes ABC News, are the people who brought us the lies about Iraq. Though it didn't start in Iraq, they have been misleading us for years. This is why you are so poorly informed.
I ask your opinion on the Scott Ritter interview, how come you don't have an opinion on that. I also said check out Media Lens and there challenging of the BBC news, and no opinion on that. So I guess your here just to call people names, and not really truly discuss or debate any real issues.
You see I never ask you anything about myself, or my character, and we where not discussing me or my character; yet you attack me. This is only because you are at a loss for words. So you change the subject by launching a personal attack, and changing the topic to me and my character.
This tactic only belongs to those who don't have any thing intelligent to say about the subject, which is actually being discussed.
So long.
and peace
You are such an imbecile, and a twisted minded empty person. At least they stop killing during this Muharram month. Our forces, continue killing day and night, unabating.
George Bush - circa 19?? (a long frickin' time ago)
Either Leiberman is disciple of the fruitcake wing of Republican party, or he's actually a liberal who acts the part of a Bush muppet and spouts out truly ridiculous statements in order to make republicans look bad. Either way he's good for a laugh
It is about time we get tough. This fat pig Sadr will get his big fat disgusting ugly butt kicked to hell.
ObservantX seems to be the only one who noticed what the above statement is.
It's Pure propaganda by the american government, and spread by their propagandist corporate owned mainstream media; and nothing else.
The invasion of Iraq is now 4 years old, we have had this holy month 'Muharram' at least what three times. Does anyone recall any previous months, in the last 4 years where there was even a lull in fighting or killing.
the problem is to many people relying on the propagandist corporate owned mainstream media, to be informed. When you only end up mis-informed, as that is big medias job.
peace
Yep, the rest of the time, Allah says it is okay to kill! What a sick and twisted faith, no matter how many muslims say it is a peaceful one.
If it can be interpreted in this manner by muslims reading the Koran, it's twisted and a lousy book to read and live your life by.
Selah
"So Neo-Fats and Princess Pelosi lovers (Gay, as you probably are)?
We're not doing a thing, Al Maliki is in their payroll, fighting terrorists is "not in the best interests of the United States"...
What other sh*t and lies are you going to come up with? Or will Botox girl defer to her equally dumb colleagues Banana Boat Obama or the Cuckolded Shrew from New York?
How about Traitor John???
Al Sadr will be next...unless you Dems allow him to escape to a cave - or Iran."
Hey lieberman18,
You can try and blame the Dems all you want, but the reality is that Bush and his corrupt admin have made monumental stuff ups in Iraq which have cost the US over 3000 American lives and well over $400 billion.
How could you hate America so much that you would continue to support that idiot Bush and the rest of his corrupt clown posse?
While fatcat Cheney and the rest of the corrupt neo-cons rake in the bucks, American troops continue to lay down their lives for those (morally) corrupt as*holes.
Quite frankly, I don't care if you and the rest of your Republicanazis hate America so much - it's quite obvious that the Dems love America far more than any Republicanazis ever could pretend.
You did the one thing that lieberman18 can't stand - you talked to him reasonably. That drives him away every time. To engage him, you have to ramble incoherently about something completely off topic, name call, and anything else that a spoiled 12 year old would do.
Can you attempt to make some sense amidst the name-calling? How are the Democrats going to lose al-Sadr or bin Laden? How could you possibly characterize that as worse than the 3014+ lives the Republicans have cost America? What progress can you concoct to justify the cost?
Like your GOP counterparts, you're long on emotion and short on sense. You're of no use to America now.
THE URL, ABOVE, WILL GIVE YOU ACCESS TO MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ONE AMERICAN'S COURAGEOUS STAND AGAINST THE WAR IN IRAQ.
ANOTHER PARTIAL QUOTE FOLLOWS:
"Out of a deeply held belief that the war in Iraq is both illegal and immoral, Lt. Watada refused to deploy. His decision has since mobilized dozens of anti-war activist groups who have eagerly adopted his cause to put a face to their movement. It has also alienated him from his superiors in the military."
"to stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it. They must remember duty to the Constitution and the people supersede the ideologies of their leadership. The soldier must be willing to face ostracism by their peers, worry over the survival of their families, and of course the loss of personal freedom. They must know that resisting an authoritarian government at home is equally important to fighting a foreign aggressor on the battlefield."
"After the Sept. 11 attacks, Lt. Watada was moved by a profound sense of duty and patriotism and enlisted in the Army right out of college in 2003."
"He offered to serve in Afghanistan, a war he considers unambiguously tied to Al Qaida, but was turned down. He also said he was willing to face a nonjudicial hearing, resign his commission, and accept a less-than-honorable discharge. But this, too, was denied.
Lt. Watada did not apply for conscientious-objector status because he does not oppose all wars, just the war in Iraq."
GO TO www DOT alternet DOT org/story/40455/
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