Shiite Cleric Pulls Fighters Off Streets

Al-Sadr Offers Truce If Government Ends Raids, Releases Imprisoned Followers

(CBS/AP)  In a possible turning point in the recent upsurge in violence, Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his Shiite militiamen off the streets Sunday but called on the government to stop its raids against his followers.

The government welcomed the move, which followed intense negotiations by Shiite officials, including two lawmakers who reportedly traveled to Iran to ask religious authorities there to intervene.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose Tuesday offensive in the oil-rich southern city in Basra sparked the crisis, called al-Sadr's statement "a step in the right direction."

But fighting continued in the Basra area after the announcement. Seven people also were killed when a mortar struck a residential district in Baghdad's Karradah district, and witnesses reported clashes in the Shula area in a northern section of the capital.

A U.S. soldier also was killed Sunday in a roadside bombing north of Baghdad, the military said, raising to at least 4,008 American service members who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The nine-point statement by the anti-American cleric - which was broadcast through Shiite mosques in Baghdad and across the south - called for an end to the "armed presence" in Basra and other cities and urged followers "to cooperate with the government to achieve security."

Al-Sadr, however, also demanded that the Iraqi government stop "illegal and haphazard raids" and release security detainees who haven't been charged, two issues cited by his movement as reasons for fighting the government.

The Sadrists have complained that the government has released few of their followers under a new amnesty law, which they complain has favored Sunnis who have recently joined with the Americans to fight al Qaeda.

The cleric's decision offered way out of a widening Shiite conflict at a time when government forces appeared to be making little headway against the well-armed militias in Basra.

Al-Sadr's order stopped short of calling on his fighters to disarm. And the government insisted it would still target "outlaws."

Iraqi authorities in Baghdad said a citywide curfew would be lifted Monday morning, although a vehicle ban remained on three strongholds of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in the capital.

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London's Daily Telegraph reports that some members of al-Sadr's militant army are driving American-issued Humvees, given to them by sympathizers within the Iraqi Army. Some Iraqi service members are even defecting to al-Sadr's forces.

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Before al-Sadr's statement, dozens of Shiite gunmen Sunday stormed a government TV facility in central Basra, forcing Iraqi troops guarding the building to flee and setting armored vehicles on fire.

One of al-Maliki's top security officials also was killed in a mortar attack in Basra, officials said. The prime minister's Dawa party issued a statement of condolences identifying the slain official as Salim Qassim, known by his nickname Abu Laith al-Kadhimi.

In an effort to curb the growing violence, two senior Shiite lawmakers close to al-Maliki - Hadi al-Amri and Ali al-Adeeb - traveled to Iran and asked authorities there to stop the flow of weapons to al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, according to two officials.

The lawmakers - both of whom have close ties to Iran - also asked the Iranians to pressure al-Sadr to come up with a face-saving initiative, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Iran is believed to supply weapons, money and training to all major Shiite factions in Iraq, including the Mahdi Army as well as groups closely allied with the Americans.

Scattered firing could be heard in central Baghdad hours after al-Sadr's statement was released, and rockets or mortars were fired toward the Green Zone, where U.S. diplomats were holed up in the embassy at Saddam Hussein's former palace and ordered to stay under hard cover as the sprawling area has come under frequent fire this week.

At least seven Iraqis were killed and 21 wounded when two rounds apparently fell short, striking houses in the commercial district of Karradah, police said.

Suspected Mahdi Army gunmen also attacked an Iraqi checkpoint in eastern Baghdad, killing six troops, police said. The attack came hours after al-Sadr's statement was issued by his office in the holy city of Najaf.

The strength of the resistance to the week-old offensive has taken the U.S.-backed government by surprise, forcing it to bring in reinforcements as the number of Iraqi security forces involved in the effort topped 30,000.

The prime minister, himself a Shiite, has called the fight "a decisive and final battle," although he acknowledged later that he may have miscalculated by failing to foresee the strong backlash the offensive would provoke.

An estimated 400 people have been killed as fighting spread to Baghdad neighborhoods and other southern cities.

Several clashes have involved U.S. forces and the U.S. military launched air strikes in Basra and American special forces were on the ground helping the Iraqi ground troops. The military said 16 enemy fighters were killed when an AC-130 gunship strafed heavily armed militants attacking Iraqi troops during clashes on Saturday.

The Shiite violence threatened to jeopardize recent security gains due to an influx of American troops, a Sunni revolt against al Qaeda in Iraq and al-Sadr's cease-fire that was announced in August.

Attacks bearing the hallmark of al Qaeda militants also continued in northern Iraq.

A suicide car bomber killed five U.S.-backed Sunni fighters and wounded eight other people near the oil hub of Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad.

Gunmen also killed five policemen in Duluiyah, a Sunni-dominated area 45 miles north of Baghdad.

The U.S. military said separately that American and Iraqi troops unearthed 14 badly decomposed bodies in a mass grave on Saturday in Muqdadiyah, northeast of Baghdad. It was the second such find since Thursday, when 37 bodies were found.

[b-easy63]

More and more, it appears our US installed and backed puppet (Al Maliki) is intent on being Iraq''s next Saddam, and is using the US military''s weapon''s and soldiers to try to achieve this. Now, he goes after the Sadrists, who stopped fighting to achieve the peace, but whose very existence means he is not top dog in Iraq if they do not want him to be.

[underdogus]

Cleric FloydZepp ...calls for Jihad!! refuse surrender!!

[ajaxtheleast]

HEY!. .THAT YOU!. . AINT SEEN YA AROUND!
WHATCHA BEEN UP TO!?

ME?. . ACTUAL'' THOUGHT I''D BE A MONK.
BEEN AWAY AT A MONISTORY. . BEEN KINDA
OUTTA TOUCH. . . .YOU?

DESTROYED A COUNTRY!. . KILLED ME ABOUT
A HALF MILLION PEOPLE!

GREAT GREAT SAY LETS GIT TOGETHER
SOMETIME AN. . .

HOP IN!. . TH'' OL'' RANCH AINT GONE NOWHERE!
WONT KNOW TH'' PLACE!. .HAD BILLY BOB PUT
ME UP A DISTILLERY ON THE BACK FORTY!. .
. . . . . . . . . .
HERE . .M''GOOD BUDDY BLACKWATER ZEKE KIN
GO CLIMB UP BACK WITH TH'' OTHER TEN.

[jjp735i]

Muqtada al-Sadr should have been killed years ago. Another Bush blunder.

[sistatee-2009]

Ice,
You''re probably right, but I bet they run out of clerics before we run out of bullets.

[feelfree1]

What do you know?

CBS Newz DOES have actual journalists on staff that can present coherent analysis:

"...the head of the Badr Organization sure does seem to have, um, remarkably speedy access to the head of Iran''s Qods force, doesn''t he? It''s something to ponder the next time some Bush administration or U.S. Army spokesperson casually maligns Sadr as "Iranian backed" but maintains a discreet silence when it comes to the far deeper and longer-lived Iranian ties of Maliki''s own Dawa/Badr alliance..."

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/31/politics/animal/main3980967.shtml

[j0hnwi11iams]

The Sadr movement is organized and unified by a simple principle: EXPELL the OCCUPIERS. Not only is the US getting dragged into civil war, it is the CAUSE behind it.

[j0hnwi11iams]

Hmm . . . A militia that vows to remain armed until the US leaves. Anyone see any trouble recruiting for that army? I bet we can trace the whole episode to Cheney.

[iceman_1960]

Make that,

JFK and his brother RFK.

[iceman_1960]

"Why don"t they just off this dude and whoever takes his place, and the next, and the next, and the next.....?"
- Posted by SistaTee at 03:04 AM : Mar 31, 2008
---------------------

Things don"t work that easy.

JFK and his brother RGK thought the all powwerful USA could solve all problems by operating "on the darkside" like that.

But their exploding cigars failed to off Fidel Castro, and they both found out later that two can play that game.

[sistatee-2009]

Why don''t they just off this dude and whoever takes his place, and the next, and the next, and the next.....?

[sgtrds]

The body of a bro of all vets, Sgt. Keith Matthew Maupin, was identified in the Iraq war. He is a hero. I just checked his story and saw only one RIP. Come on bro''''s, he deserves better and so does his family. We stand together. It''''s not possible to do too much to honor our fallen comrades. Say your words for his family.

[iceman_1960]

Based on archaeological records, the ancient Greeks had a better life expectancy (both male and female) than modern Americans until you get to the mid 1900"s.

It was the best in ancient times.

Their secret: a physically vigorous lifestyle and the Mediterannean Diet.

Those books on the latter subject in the bookstores are a good investment.

[newsjunky5]

"Washington was 57 when he took office.
That doesn"t seem very elderly until you reckon that the life expectancy of white males in America then was 35.
That would be like a man of 100 seeking the presidency today. "
--------------------------------
Almost, except the avg. of 35 reflects a high mortality in infants and children in those days. If you lived to adulthood, a ripe old age of like, 45 or more could be expected.

[alphaa10-2009]

BaghdadsHere said of those who dare to disagree with him "jihadiots."
---
The Bush jihad began with neocon connivance in a doctrine called "Project for the New American Century", essentially a plan for world domination by rabid ideologues who turned out to qualify for your mutant neologism, "jihadiots".

Suffering through their malady, the Bush jihadiots proceeded to double the national debt, tank the economy despite heralded and fanfared tax cuts, and abandon the American middle class to the tender mercies of rising prices and loss of job security, health security, home security and threats by Bush to their Social Security.
Al Qaeda hardly could have done more damage than Bush.

Meanwhile, the American military is in a state of exhaustion and disrepair from two wars, neither of which it is "winning". In particular, an Iraq intervention costing $2.2 billion weekly, and which has killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, 4,000 Americans, and wounded and maimed hundreds of thousands more.

BaghdadsHere ought to be grateful that someone takes exception to the idiocy he applauds.

[j-whitman]

TracyM_organ,,,, You''re only 1/3 right, he''s only 1/2 negro ------ & You are the racist, an embarrasment to this country

[j-whitman]

BaghdadsHere,,,, You are a cowardly scumbag aren''t you ? You love shiit talking behind people''s back---- You''re a no good punk asss & the scum of America

[ajaxtheleast]

Dress it up, new shoes, trousers, nice
clean white shirt, spiffy sport coat

never know it was a war crime.

[danstoned]

TracyM_organ

Hebrew, why you keep changing your moniker?

[danstoned]

If McCain had the opportunity, would this Vietnam Civil War mercenary McCain pardon RepubliCon War criminals Bush/Cheney? Of course he would. McCain is a diehard Republicon, and an Israel First TRAITOR! Just ask traitor Joe Jew Lieberman.