The fact that a leading figure in al-Sadr's ranks announced the deal and
pointedly rejected the Iraqi government's key demand to disarm suggests
that
the cleric is still controlling the agenda tactically and politically
despite the most serious challenge his power the Iraqi government could
muster.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080511/wl_time/alsadrwinsanotherround;_ylt=AtYgS5bEXjgFeBM4LuCgyTAE1vAI
Al-Sadr Wins Another Round
By MARK KUKIS/BAGHDAD Sun May 11, 10:35 AM ET
For the first time in weeks Sadr City saw no fighting Sunday, day one of
yet
another hastily brokered cease-fire between U.S.-backed Iraqi forces and
the
****'ite Mahdi Army militia.
In announcing the deal, al-Sadr aide Sheik Salah al-Obeidi said the
agreement, "stipulates that the Mahdi Army will stop fighting in Sadr City
and will stop displaying arms in public. In return, the government will
stop
random raids against al-Sadr followers and open all closed roads that lead
to Sadr City."
Al-Obeidi, who issued a statement from the southern Iraqi city of Najaf,
added: "This do***ent does not call for disbanding al-Mahdi Army or laying
down their arms."
The fact that a leading figure in al-Sadr's ranks announced the deal and
pointedly rejected the Iraqi government's key demand to disarm suggests
that
the cleric is still controlling the agenda tactically and politically
despite the most serious challenge his power the Iraqi government could
muster. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki set out to break the back of
the Mahdi Army in March, when he launched an offensive against areas the
militia controls in the southern city of Basra. The Mahdi Army fought
Iraqi
forces to a standstill there while unlea****ng a daily hail of rockets and
mortars on the Green Zone that left al-Maliki's government effectively the
ones under siege. And when U.S. and Iraqi troops tried to press into Sadr
City to chase the militia's mortar men and rocketeers, they barely managed
to establish a foothold on the southern edge of the neighborhood before
the
situation stalemated.
--
Pucker your lips for the Apocalypse!
Johnny Asia, Guitarist from the Future
http://music.download.com/johnnyasia
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