A cleric, a pol, a warrior

In Iraq, Muqtada Sadr's clout and experience make any effort to subdue him a dangerous strategy.
By Patrick Cockburn

April 12, 2008

The Iraqi government has decided that the moment has come to crush the Mahdi Army and the followers of Muqtada Sadr once and for all. Despite its failure to eliminate his militiamen in Basra at the end of March, the government, with American backing, is determined to try again, according to senior Iraqi officials.

It is a dangerous strategy for both Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and the U.S. Sadr remains one of the most powerful and revered leaders of the Shiite community -- and the Shiites make up 60% of Iraq. What's more, the 34-year-old Sadr is not exactly the mercurial "firebrand" or "renegade" cleric portrayed by journalistic cliche-mongers; rather, he has repeatedly shown himself to be a cautious and experienced political operator.

Ever since he unexpectedly emerged as a central figure in Iraqi politics in the days after the overthrow of the old regime in 2003, Sadr's many enemies have invariably underestimated him and the commitment of his followers. When the U.S. viceroy in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, moved against Sadr in April 2004, he was astonished when the Sadrists took over much of southern Iraq in response. Maliki had a similar experience in March: He demanded that the Mahdi Army militiamen hand over their weapons within three days -- only to see pictures on TV of disaffected troops and police surrendering their guns to the militia instead.

Sadr enjoys such great religious and political authority because he is the scion of the most respected Shiite clerical family in Iraq. His father, Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq Sadr, and two of his brothers were killed, presumably by Saddam Hussein's gunmen, in 1999. His cousin and father-in-law, Mohammed Baqir Sadr, a revered Shiite theologian, was executed by the old regime in 1980.

It was Sadeq Sadr who created the Sadrist movement, whose mixture of puritanical Islam, nationalism and social relief appealed to the millions of Shiite poor, impoverished by war and economic sanctions. Although Hussein initially saw Sadeq Sadr as a potential ally, he realized late in the day that he was fostering a dangerous enemy and ordered Sadeq Sadr's assassination.

Muqtada Sadr became so important so fast after the fall of Hussein because he inherited his father's movement -- and it is still the basis of his influence. He only narrowly avoided being killed at the same time as Sadeq Sadr and was held under house arrest, allowed to live only because Iraqi security believed he was no threat.

Living so close to death for so many years helps explain Muqtada Sadr's secretive character. "Even his closest lieutenants sitting beside him do not know what is going on in his head," one of his aides said. Highly intelligent with a quick, nervous manner, he illustrates his words with rapid hand movements in apparent imitation of his father's manner.

Muqtada Sadr created the Mahdi Army in 2003 and rapidly turned it into the most powerful militia in Iraq. Lightly armed and poorly trained, it suffered terrible losses fighting the U.S. Marines in two battles in Najaf in 2004, but the outgunned militiamen did not surrender. The Sadrists have always seen political and social activism as essential to Islamic practice. They criticized the rival Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, and the established Shiite clergy for their "quietism" and their failure to actively oppose Hussein (and later, the American occupation).

What makes Sadr different from other Shiite leaders, and gives him credibility among the Shiite masses, is that he opposed the U.S. occupation from the beginning. When the U.S. invasion overthrew Hussein, Sadr said that "the big snake has succeeded the small snake." He pulled his followers out of the Iraqi government in 2006 because Maliki would not condemn the occupation. He also became increasingly reliant on Iran in the face of U.S. hostility.

The once impressive political unity of the Shiite community is now collapsing. Maliki (who is a Shiite) and his small Dawa Party, along with his main ally, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, believe that they can isolate the Sadrists and, with American help, marginalize them before the October provincial elections in which the Sadrists were expected to do well. The long rivalry of the Sadr family and the Hakim family (the founders of the Supreme Islamic Council in 1982) has once again exploded. The U.S. may come to regret taking sides against the Sadrists in this intra-Shiite feud.

Ever since the battles for Najaf four years ago, Sadr has tried to avoid direct military confrontation with U.S. military forces. He has agreed to truces and cease-fires, and two weeks ago, he even called his militiamen off the streets in Baghdad and Basra when they seemed to be winning.

But for the Iraqi government, those clashes were only the first round in a battle to crush the Sadrists as a political and military force. Going by past experience, Sadr will try to arrange a compromise to avoid the destruction of his movement. But if he is forced to fight, the U.S. will face a whole new front in the war in Iraq.

Patrick Cockburn is the Iraq correspondent for the Independent in London and the author of "Muqtada: Muqtada Al-Sadr, the Shia Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq."

Iraq Dismisses 1,300 After Basra Offensive

By STEPHEN FARRELL

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government announced Sunday that it had dismissed 1,300 soldiers and policemen for refusing to fight or performing badly during last month’s offensive against Shiite militias in the southern city of Basra.

Maj. Gen. Abdul-Kareem Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said that 500 soldiers and 421 policemen were fired in Basra, including 37 senior police officers up to the rank of Brigadier General. Police officials said the remainder were fired in Kut, where fighting also spread.

“Some of them were sympathetic with these lawbreakers, some refused to battle for political or national or sectarian or religious reasons,” General Khalaf said in Basra.

The dismissals were an implicit admission of failures during the government offensive, which was widely criticized as being poorly planned. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s forces failed to disarm Shiite militias, in particular the Mahdi Army militia loyal to the cleric Moktada al-Sadr. However, they claim to have restored order to the streets, and the nearby ports vital to Iraq’s oil industry.

American officials, who praised the Iraqi forces’ progress in being able to move 6,600 reinforcements south to Basra so quickly, conceded that they had not been fully consulted in advance.

The Basra clashes pitched the country’s two most powerful Shiite forces against each other — the Mahdi Army and the government security forces dominated by Mr. Sadr’s most powerful internal Shiite rival, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.

On April 3, Mr. Maliki promised to dismiss and prosecute the worst offenders among the more than 1,000 who deserted, laid down their weapons or refused to fight against their fellow Shiites and tribesmen. At the time one of his senior officials acknowledged that fear of the militias was a principal factor. “One of the main reasons is that they felt the other party was too strong, and too courageous and they couldn’t confront them,” he said.

Putting further political pressure on Mr. Sadr, Ali al-Dabbagh, an Iraqi government spokesman, said Sunday that the cabinet had agreed on a draft law that would ban any party from taking part in the October provincial elections unless they disband their militias. But it was unclear how much effect any law could have, given that the two dominant Shiite parties in government — the Sadrists and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq — are both closely affiliated with their armed wings.

In Baghdad, the Mahdi Army’s Sadr City stronghold was reported to be quieter on Sunday, after a week of heavy clashes with Iraqi government and American troops.

The Iraqi and American forces have taken control of southern neighborhoods in an effort to deprive the Mahdi Army of areas from which it can fire rockets and mortars at Baghdad’s high-security Green Zone three miles to the west.

Iraqi and U.S. Forces Battle Shiite Militia

By MICHAEL KAMBER and JAMES GLANZ

BAGHDAD — Heavy fighting broke out Tuesday in two of Iraq’s largest cities, as Iraqi ground forces and helicopters mounted a huge operation to break the grip of the Shiite militias controlling Basra, and Iraqi forces clashed with militias in Baghdad. The fighting threatened to destabilize a long-term truce that had helped reduce the level of violence in the five-year-old Iraq war.

The battles, along with indications in recent weeks that militia and insurgent attacks had already been creeping up, raised fears across Iraq that Moktada al-Sadr, the renegade Shiite cleric, could pull out of a cease-fire he declared last summer. If his Mahdi Army militia does step up attacks, that could in turn slow American troop withdrawals.

There were also serious clashes in the southern cities of Kut and Hilla.

In Basra, American and British jets roared through the skies, providing air support for the Iraqi military. A British Army spokesman for southern Iraq, Maj. Tom Holloway, said that while Western forces had not entered Basra, the operation already involved nearly 30,000 Iraqi troops and police forces, with more arriving. “They are clearing the city block by block,” Major Holloway said.

The scale and intensity of the clashes in Baghdad kept many residents home. Schools and shops were closed in many neighborhoods and hundreds of checkpoints appeared; in some neighborhoods they were controlled by the government and in others by militia members.

Barrages of rockets and mortar shells pounded the fortified Green Zone area for the second time in three days. An American military spokesman said there were two minor injuries to civilians in the Green Zone.

Even before the crackdown on militias began on Tuesday, Pentagon statistics on the frequency of militia and insurgent attacks suggested that after major security gains last fall, the conflict had drifted into something of a stalemate. Over all, violence has remained fairly steady over the past several months, but the streets have become tense and much more dangerous again after a period of calm.

It is not clear how responsible the restive Mahdi militia commanders are for stalling progress in the effort to reduce violence. In recent weeks, commanders have protested continuing American and Iraqi raids and detentions of militia members.

If the cease-fire were to unravel, there is little doubt about the mayhem that could be stirred up by Mr. Sadr, who forced the United States military to mount two bloody offensives against his fighters in 2004 as much of the country exploded in violence.

Sadiq al-Rikabi, the prime minister’s political adviser, and other Iraqi officials said that just how the unrest in Baghdad was related to the crackdown in Basra was unknown.

Sadr City, the Baghdad neighborhood that is the center of the Mahdi Army’s power, was sealed off by a cordon of Iraqi troops and what appeared to be several American units. A New York Times photographer who was able to get through the cordon found more layers of checkpoints, each one run by about two dozen heavily armed Mahdi Army fighters clad in tracksuits and T-shirts. Tires burned in the city center, gunfire echoed against shuttered stores, and teams of fighters in pickup trucks moved about brandishing machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

“We are doing this in reaction to the unprovoked military operations against the Mahdi Army,” said a Mahdi commander who identified himself as Abu Mortada. “The U.S., the Iraqi government and Sciri are against us,” he said, referring to a rival Shiite group whose name has changed several times, and is now known as the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which has an armed wing called the Badr Organization.

“They are trying to finish us,” the commander said. “They want power for the Iraqi government and Sciri.”

Basra, which until 2005 enjoyed relative peace, has since been riven by power struggles among the Mahdi Army and local Shiite rivals, like the Badr Organization and a militia controlled by the Fadhila political party, a group that split from the Sadr party.

In the weeks leading up to the operation, Iraqi officials indicated that part of the operation would be aimed at the Fadhila groups, which are widely believed to be in control of Basra’s lucrative port operations and other parts of the city. The ports have been plagued by corruption, draining revenue that could flow to the central and local governments. But the operation also threatens the Mahdi Army’s strongholds in Basra.

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s government depends on support from the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq but is less dependent now on coalitions with the Mahdi Army.

In Basra, Iraq’s most important oil-exporting center, thousands of Iraqi government soldiers and police officers moved into the city around 5 a.m. and engaged in pitched battles with Shiite militia members who have taken over big areas of that city.

The Basra operation, which senior Iraqi officials had been signaling for weeks, is considered so important by the Iraqi government that Mr. Maliki traveled to the city to direct the fighting, several officials said.

Although Sadr officials said the cease-fire was still in effect, on Monday Mr. Sadr called for a nationwide civil disobedience campaign in response to what his followers said was an unwarranted crackdown. Some Mahdi commanders referred to an edict by Mr. Sadr saying their militias had the right of self-defense.

A member of Mr. Sadr’s political party in Basra, Sheik Abdul Sattar al-Bahadli, complained bitterly about the enormous operation, claiming that it was aimed at innocent people in Basra.

“We never witnessed such attacks even under the regime of Saddam Hussein,” Mr. Bahadli said. “Maliki gave orders and said, ‘Erase them.’ ”

But Mr. Maliki said in a statement that the operation was intended to root out “outlaws” who, he said, were working with local confederates inside and outside the government.

“The federal government, pressed by its obligations to support the local government in Basra and support its officials, has decided to restore security and stability and impose the law,” the statement said

An American military official said the American-led coalition forces had provided air transportation for the operation and were keeping “quick reaction forces” on standby.

The official said coalition forces had supported Iraqi security forces in clashes around Sadr City with “special groups” — a term reserved for what American commanders say are Iranian-backed Shiite splinter groups, which include portions of the Mahdi Army.

“A coalition forces helicopter also engaged targets north of Sadr City in support of this operation,” the official said, asserting that despite the fighting, most of Baghdad had been peaceful and that there were still signs of progress on security in most areas of Iraq and its capital.

“We feel that the cease-fire is being honored” by those loyal to Mr. Sadr, the official said. The cease-fire, he said, “is in the best interest of all Iraqis.”

Many places in Baghdad were tense. At a checkpoint downtown, a policeman’s radio crackled with the news of the sniper shooting of a police officer in a nearby neighborhood. “We’ve heard that Sadr has canceled the cease-fire, is this true?” he asked motorists whose car he was searching.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, the military said an American soldier was killed in Baghdad about 5.p.m. No other details were provided.

Witnesses in Basra said jets flew overhead as armored vehicles raced through the city and machine gun and canon fire reverberated through the streets. Civilians took refuge in their homes. Iraqi television showed images of civilian gunmen with grenade launchers taking up positions and ambulances ferrying the wounded to hospitals.

On Tuesday night, after about six hours of silence, armored vehicles and helicopters could again be heard moving through the city, witnesses said. Gunfire and shelling could be heard to the north.

In Baghdad, some areas were deserted as clashes broke out across the city. In downtown Baghdad, checkpoints blocked sparse traffic every 100 yards.

Saeed Ammar, a government employee, said he was standing near policemen in the Huriya neighborhood on Tuesday morning when he was approached by Mahdi Army members. “They told me not to stand near checkpoints. They said, ‘We are waiting for the word from Moktada Sadr to attack the checkpoints — it may come at any moment.’ ”

Despite the armed actions by many Sadr followers, members of Mr. Sadr’s party said the cease-fire was still in effect and called for peaceful civil disobedience. In Najaf, hundreds of followers carrying Korans and olive branches mounted a sit-in, chanting, “No to occupation, no to terrorism.”

Sahar Gani, a teacher, was taking students home along a nearly deserted Baghdad sidewalk. “The security situation is getting worse day by day,” she said. “The city is getting very bad now. We’ve been through this before, so we find it natural. But we don’t know what to do.”

Reporting was contributed by Joao Silva, Anwar J. Ali and Hosham Hussein from Baghdad, and employees of The New York Times from Baghdad, Basra, Hilla, Diwaniya and Kut.

Iraqi Forces Battle Gunmen in Basra

By Sholnn Freeman and Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, March 25, 2008; 11:39 AM

BAGHDAD, March 25 -- Gun battles erupted between Iraqi security forces and Shiite armed groups in the southern oil city of Basra on Tuesday as the government launched a security offensive against the feuding militias that have turned the city into one of Iraq's most dangerous zones.

The targeted groups include members of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, further risking the breakdown of a ceasefire imposed by Sadr over the organization last summer. The ceasefire has been credited with tamping down violence throughout the country but seemed to be fraying as armed groups clashed with security forces in Basra and in several eastern Baghdad neighborhoods.

The Associated Press also reported fighting in the southern Iraqi town of Kut, where Sadr loyalists had reportedly taken control of several neighborhoods.

In addition, U.S. Embassy officials confirmed additional shelling Tuesday of the protected Green Zone, where the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government are housed. A spokeswoman said the embassy had no information on casualties. Officials said that one Army employee had died as a result of a day-long Green Zone shelling attack Sunday and that a Jordanian Embassy employee remains hospitalized.

Residents in Basra reported sporadic clashes beginning early Tuesday morning in the neighborhoods of Hayania, Jubaila and Jumhuria -- known Sadr strongholds. In telephone interviews, they described seeing military vehicles, soldiers and policemen exchanging fire with armed groups.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 13 gunmen had been killed, along with three Iraqi policemen, and six civilians were dead, police said. Scores more were injured, and at least five military vehicles were set ablaze, according to police.

"No one is on the street," said Mohammed Kadhim, who owns a clothing shop in the center of the city. As he spoke, the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background. "I am not able to go out of my house." He said one of his neighbors was shot in the face and was in critical condition.

By Tuesday afternoon, there were reports of clashes unfolding in several neighborhoods in eastern Baghdad between Iraqi security forces and armed groups, as well as between rival Shiite gangs.

In an interview, an Iraqi interior ministry said Mahdi Army gunmen stormed two offices of the Dawa Party, led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and clashed with guards. The clashes left five Mahdi Army gunmen and two Dawa Party guards dead, police said.

The clashes came as Sadr's movement mounted a nationwide civil disobedience campaign in many parts of eastern and central Baghdad, demanding the release of Sadr's followers from detention centers and an end to Iraqi government raids. Sadrist leaders ordered stores to be shut down and taxi and bus drivers to stop operating. Television footage Tuesday showed neighborhoods turned into virtual ghost towns, their usually busy streets all but empty.

In a statement, Sadr called upon Iraqis to stage sit-ins and threatened a nationwide "civil revolt" if U.S. and Iraqi forces continue attacking and arresting his followers.

The actions were the latest sign that the ceasefire imposed by Sadr on his Mahdi Army militia is under strain.

U.S. military commanders have commended the ceasefire. They view it as a key reason why violence levels have dropped in recent months across Iraq, along with a U.S.-troop buildup and the rise of a Sunni movement, fueled by tribesman and former insurgents, against radical jihadists.

But in recent weeks, many Mahdi Army leaders and Sadr loyalists have urged the cleric to remove the ceasefire, as Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops have raided and detained hundreds of Sadr followers in several southern cities in the past few months.

"The plan that is being implemented in Basra is meant to pass political agendas and not bring security," Harith al-Ithari, the head of Sadr's office in Basra, said in a phone interview with Iraq's al-Sharqiya television network. "But we are working together with all sides to bring back stability to the city."

Violence has gripped Basra since December, when British troops handed over control of the province to the Iraqi government. A power struggle between the Mahdi Army and its main rival, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and its armed wing, the Badr Brigade, has battered the city in recent months.

But smaller Shiite militias are also locked into fighting. Tuesday's clashes erupted a day after Maliki traveled to Basra to oversee a security crackdown.

Ahead of the offensive, the Iraqi government closed off land access to the city from Tuesday through Thursday and imposed a nighttime curfew until further notice. The government ordered schools, institutes and universities to cancel classes Tuesday through Thursday and banned all movement of vehicles to Basra from other provinces until further notice.

A Maliki adviser, Sadiq al-Rikabi, said Monday that the prime minister was determined to bring the area under control and not leave the security of the people "threatened by gangs and murders."

Maj. Tim Holloway, a spokesman for the British military, said fighting was unfolding in districts in the center of Basra. British forces are standing by, he said, but are not involved in the security crackdown. He said coalition forces were providing surveillance support with aircraft flying overhead.

"Iraq can deal with the challenges in Basra," Holloway said. "It's an indication of the Iraqi military's confidence in their own ability and their willingness to do so." He described the security crackdown as "enormously encouraging."

The British have about 4,100 troops in the area, most at the city's airport and none inside Basra proper. Since handing over the province to the Iraqi government, the British have limited their role to training Iraqi security forces.

Special correspondents K.I. Ibrahim, Zaid Sabah, Dalya Hassan and Naseer Nouri in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Upswing in Iraq attacks not a trend: U.S. military

Sun Mar 9, 2008 3:42pm EDT

By Michael Holden

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Sunday a recent increase in bombings was not the start of a wider trend in Iraq and violence had decreased overall.

U.S. military spokesman Rear Admiral Greg Smith said he did not think recent security gains were being reversed.

"I would not look at the last few weeks as an increase or a trend, but there has been a sporadic series of events that ... have resulted in significant loss of life," Smith told a news conference.

Smith said the spate of recent attacks needed to be compared with a year ago, when thousands of civilians were dying in sectarian violence between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs, with U.S. troops also suffering heavy casualties.

Iraqi police said 68 people died when two bombs exploded within minutes of each other in a popular, crowded shopping area in central Baghdad on Thursday evening, the deadliest single bombing in the capital since last June.

Overall levels of violence are sharply down since last June, when 30,000 extra U.S. soldiers were deployed.

That coincided with a ceasefire by Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia and a decision by mainly Sunni Arab tribal sheiks to turn against Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.

The fiercely anti-U.S. Sadr issued his second statement in three days on Sunday, telling followers they could still defend themselves despite his decision last month to extend a ceasefire for his feared Mehdi Army militia for another six months.

"If a military war is conducted against us by the occupiers we will defend ourselves," Sadr said in a statement bearing his personal seal, his second in three days.

Sadr appeared to be reacting to complaints by members of the militia that rival Shi'ite factions and the U.S. and Iraqi security forces could exploit the ceasefire to attack them.

HEADACHES

The number of violent civilian deaths rose sharply in February, the first increase in six months, after bombings which Smith blamed on al Qaeda killed more than 160 people.

Any upsurge in violence could pose headaches for Washington over its plans to withdraw some U.S. troops from Iraq.

Five of 20 combat brigades in Iraq are due to be pulled out by July 31, reducing the overall U.S. military presence from about 160,000 to around 140,000.

On Thursday, the U.S. military said the second of the brigades would be returning from Baghdad, while another based in the city was also earmarked for withdrawal.

"There has been substantial progress -- levels of violence are down by 60-70 percent, civilian deaths and a variety of other categories that we watch are all down," General David Petraeus, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, told Sky News.

U.S. commanders say al Qaeda is the greatest threat to Iraq's security but they are also concerned about "rogue" Shi'ite militias, many which have split from Sadr and which the U.S. military accuses Iran of financing, training and arming.

Tehran has denied the charges, blaming the U.S. presence in Iraq for the violence.

Iranian, U.S. and Iraqi officials held three round of talks in Baghdad last year on ways to end the violence, easing a diplomatic freeze between Washington and Tehran.

But a fourth round of talks has been repeatedly delayed with Washington and Tehran blaming each other for the impasse.

"Direct talks with the United states are not on Iran's agenda but Iran-U.S. talks on Iraq have been delayed due to technical issues," said Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Sunday.

(Additional reporting by Luke Baker in London, Edmund Blair in Tehran, Khaled Farhan in Najaf and Waleed Ibrahim and Mohammed Abbas in Baghdad; Editing by Jon Boyle)

After suspense, Iraqi cleric extends truce

In well-planned move, Sadr asserts his rising authority and status.
By Alexandra Zavis
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

February 23, 2008

BAGHDAD — Everything about Muqtada Sadr's announcement Friday that he was renewing a six-month cease-fire by his Mahdi Army militia appeared choreographed to reinforce his ascent from rabble-rouser to respected Shiite Muslim cleric and political power-broker.

Until the last minute, Sadr kept Iraq on tenterhooks about whether he would extend the truce, which has been credited with helping to reduce sectarian violence and attacks against U.S. forces.

The order to extend the cease-fire for another six months was delivered to loyalist clerics in sealed envelopes and revealed to followers during midday prayers in a flourish highlighting the importance of his cooperation as the U.S. starts to draw down extra troops deployed last year.

In a statement welcoming the announcement, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's office said Sadr's movement was "an essential pillar in the political process and the march toward a new Iraq."

The U.S. military signaled that it was ready for dialogue with Sadr's followers. U.S. officials, who a year ago described Sadr's movement as the single greatest threat to Iraq, have begun referring to him as "the honorable" Muqtada Sadr. They say his cease-fire has contributed to a 60% decline in violence since June.

Sadr vehemently opposes the presence of U.S. forces and spearheaded two violent uprisings in 2004.

He announced the six-month cease-fire in August after embarrassing clashes between his Mahdi Army fighters and a rival Shiite militia during a religious festival left at least 52 people dead in the holy city of Karbala.

Sadr had said the truce would allow him to instill discipline in the ranks, ridding the militia of thugs who were giving it a bad name. Analysts suggested that he may also have wanted to avoid going head-to-head with U.S. forces, whose numbers were boosted by 28,500 last year under President Bush's troop buildup.

Sadr's black-clad fighters were a driving force in the retaliatory killings between Shiites and Sunnis unleashed by the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in Samarra two years ago. The sectarian bloodshed accounted for nearly 800 deaths in Baghdad last February, compared to fewer than 40 last month, Navy Rear Adm. Greg Smith said this week.

In a statement Friday, the U.S. military said the extension would allow U.S. and Iraqi forces to concentrate on the Sunni militant group Al Qaeda in Iraq, which it now considers the No. 1 threat.

It promised to treat those who honor Sadr's pledge with "respect and restraint," but said it would pursue any elements that wage attacks.

"We also welcome an opportunity to participate in dialogue with the Sadr trend and all groups who seek to bring about reconciliation in building the new Iraq," the statement said.

Sadr is unlikely to agree to a direct meeting, but his followers have had contacts with the U.S. military at a local level.

In the weeks leading up to the announcement Friday, Sadr's aides and loyalists in parliament had complained that their foes were using the cease-fire to try to crush his movement politically and militarily.

They accused U.S. and Iraqi security forces of targeting supporters in their strongholds, such as Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood, and in Iraq's largely Shiite south, where they are vying for power with the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. That party, led by Shiite rival Abdelaziz Hakim, is a key U.S. ally. Members of its Badr Organization militia dominate the upper echelons of the Iraqi security forces in southern Iraq.

Sadr had sent mixed signals about his intentions, first warning that he might order his militia back into action, then instructing his followers to respect the cease-fire. His comments were followed by an increase in rocket attacks blamed on breakaway factions of his militia who are unhappy with the truce.

Sadr's spokesman, Salah Ubaidi, said the decision to renew the cease-fire was based on religious concerns. But Vali Nasr, a professor of international politics and an Iraq expert at Tufts University, said Sadr was well aware of the tactical and political implications.

"I think this whole maneuver was designed to make sure everybody understood the value he had," Nasr said.

He said U.S. officials and Sadr's Shiite rivals had long underestimated the cleric, who draws his strength from the Shiite street.

"He has proven to be a master tactician, who is able to keep one foot in the political process and maintain the image of an outsider," Nasr said.

By rarely appearing in public, Sadr maintains the image of the underground rebel. Yet he has 30 representatives in parliament and provided crucial backing enabling Maliki's ascent to prime minister.

Sadr, the son of a beloved religious figure slain under Saddam Hussein's regime, has built Iraq's largest social movement, providing assistance to hundreds of thousands of destitute Shiites. He is furthering his religious studies so he can become an ayatollah with the authority to issue religious edicts known as fatwas. And he commands what is arguably the country's largest militia.

But retaining control of his forces probably will remain one of his greatest challenges. In the southern oil hub of Basra, a senior member of Sadr's movement said Friday that many followers had wanted the cease-fire to end.

"I think that our enemies didn't respect this freeze of activities before, and therefore won't respect it now and will consider it a weakness on our part," said the official, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media. However, he said followers in Basra would support Sadr's decision.

In his message, read by Sheik Assad Nasiri at a mosque in Kufa, Sadr thanked his followers for their "understanding and patience."

More than 5,000 worshipers attended, many of them pilgrims on their way to the holy city of Karbala for a holiday. They waited anxiously for Nasiri to deliver his sermon, and smiled with relief after he said the cease-fire was extended.

"God bless Muqtada for freezing the Mahdi Army," said Gazwan Jabar, a 25-year-old worshiper. "By that action, the security situation was appeased."

alexandra.zavis@latimes.com

Times staff writer Tina Susman in Baghdad, special correspondent Saad Fakhrildeen in Kufa and a special correspondent in Basra contributed to this report.

Iraq official orders probe of Karbala clashes

Anti-U.S. cleric warns of consequences if the probe is unfair. The stand-down of the Mahdi Army is at stake.
By Alexandra Zavis
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

9:14 AM PDT, September 2, 2007

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki ordered an investigation today into fighting that killed more than 50 people during a religious pilgrimage in Karbala last week, following complaints by an influential cleric that the local authorities' handling of the case has been biased.

The office of firebrand Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr had threatened unspecified consequences if the government did not conduct a fair probe, raising the possibility that he could reverse a decision to suspend the operations of his powerful Mahdi Army militia.

U.S. officials had called the stand-down "encouraging," saying it could allow the military to focus on fighting Sunni Arab insurgents, blamed for many of the deadliest attacks in Iraq.

Tuesday's clashes in which members of Iraq's two biggest Shiite militias faced off amid more than 1 million pilgrims, touched off retaliatory attacks in Baghdad and threatened to deepen violence across the Shiite-dominated south, where rival factions are competing for influence as British forces draw down.

Sadr denied that his militia was involved in the clashes and ordered his fighters to halt activities for six months, while his officials root out what he described as rogue elements that are bringing the Mahdi Army into disrepute.

Despite that decision, Sadr's office complained today that his followers were being unfairly targeted by security officials in Karbala.

At a news conference in the holy city of Najaf, spokesman Sheik Salah Ubaidi claimed that more than 200 of the cleric's followers had been arrested. He also alleged that some of the policemen involved in investigating the clashes had participated in them against the Mahdi Army.

Provincial authorities in Karbala did not immediately respond to the claims.

Many Iraqi policemen and soldiers in Karbala are believed to be loyal to the rival Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council movement and its allied Badr militia. Tuesday's fighting erupted when a Supreme Council leader was waved through a security cordon in the shrine city, ahead of a crowd of waiting pilgrims and Mahdi militiamen.

"We warn the government and the executive authorities in Karbala that if there is not a fair, neutral and quick investigation, the Sadr office will be forced to take decisions outside the expectations of the government," Ubaidi told reporters.

Within hours, Maliki's office had announced the formation of a committee assigned to investigate the clashes "as quickly as possible." The brief statement did not specify the makeup of the panel but said it would "perform its task with professionalism and without bias to any side."

Rear Adm. Mark Fox, a U.S. military spokesman, said American forces were providing forensic and other technical assistance but that the investigation would be lead by the Iraqi government.

He added that the U.S. military's own raids against Shiite militants would continue as long as the fighters persisted in targeting U.S. and Iraqi government forces. Sadr's official spokesman in Najaf, Sheik Ahmed Shibani, warned last week that the stand-down did not mean "stopping resistance against the occupation."

The U.S. command has said that attacks by Iranian-backed Shiite militants now account for more U.S. casualties than Sunni insurgents. Commanders accuse elements of Sadr's militia of using armor-piercing munitions supplied by Iranian agents against their forces.

In other developments today, a car bomb exploded at the entrance to Baghdad's northern Kadhimiya neighborhood, home to a revered Shiite shrine, killing nine people and injuring 15, police said.

North of the capital, a suicide bomber drove a car packed with explosives into the gate of an Iraqi military barracks in Taji, killing two soldiers and injuring eight others, police said.

U.S. forces detain suspected militant in Baghdad

By Ned Parker
Times Staff Writer

12:13 PM PDT, July 13, 2007

BAGHDAD — U.S. troops arrested a suspected militant leader today after a firefight that left six Iraqi police and seven gunmen dead.

U.S. forces were ambushed from rooftops, a church and a police checkpoint during the predawn raid in Baghdad meant to apprehend the militant, who American authorities think is funded by an Iranian security force. The troops called in fire from a fixed-wing aircraft, aiming directly in front of a police checkpoint that was the source of a small-arms barrage.

The U.S. military said the airstrike was meant as a warning and that the troops had tried to avoid hurting any police officers.

"Coalition forces returned fire in accordance with escalation-of-force rules. Initial reports indicate that approximately seven terrorists and six Iraqi police were killed in the firefight," the military said.

It was unclear if the detained fighter was a police officer. American authorities described him as a leader of the Special Groups, an alleged offshoot of radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr's Al Mahdi militia that U.S. officials think receives backing from Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

The military accused the militant of coordinating logistical support from Iran for cells that strike U.S. forces with armor-piercing bombs and mortars and rockets.

At least three mortar rounds slammed today into Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, the site of the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government offices, where U.S. civilian government employees have been required in the last few days to wear body armor and helmets because of the rising threat of rocket and mortar attacks.

Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and one injured in the attack, an Iraqi security official said. Fire trucks and police cars raced through the Green Zone, and helicopters swooped overhead in the aftermath of the bombardment.

A fierce shelling Tuesday in the Green Zone, once the safest place in Iraq, killed three people, including a U.S. soldier, and wounded 18. Among the wounded were five Americans: two soldiers and three contract employees.

An Iraqi journalist with the New York Times in Baghdad was shot to death today on his way to work from Baghdad's southeastern Sadiyah district, the newspaper said in a statement.

Khalid W. Hassan, 23, was the third employee of a Western news organization killed in 24 hours. The paper said the circumstances of his death remained unclear.

On Thursday, an Iraqi photographer and his driver, both from the Reuters news agency, died in the crossfire of a battle between U.S. forces and gunmen in eastern Baghdad.

ned.parker@latimes.com

Times staff writer Raheem Salman contributed to this report.

Sadr attacks Iraq PM in Shia rift

Iraqi Shia leaders linked to the radical cleric, Moqtada Sadr, have attacked their former government ally, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

They accused Mr Maliki of bowing to US demands and sanctioning US attacks on Mr Sadr's Mehdi Army militia.

Mr Maliki has said the militia must purge its ranks of criminals.

Dozens of people have died in recent fighting between Iraqi forces and Mehdi Army militiamen, amid signs of a growing rift between the Shia groups.

In April, six cabinet ministers loyal to Mr Sadr quit their posts in protest at the government's refusal to demand a deadline for the withdrawal of US troops.

Support from Mr Sadr's bloc was critical to securing Mr Maliki's appointment as prime minister last year.

The Mehdi Army militia and its allies within the fledgling Iraqi security forces have been accused of operating sectarian death squads, targeting Iraqi Sunnis.

The militia's stronghold of Sadr City, a vast slum in eastern Baghdad, was the focus of a major US military operation in late June.

'US agenda'

On Saturday, Mr Maliki said the Mehdi Army had been infiltrated by criminals and by members of the Baath Party of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Mr Sadr's supporters said Mr Maliki's comments effectively gave US forces a "green light" to attack the Mehdi Army militia.

An aide to Mr Sadr, Sheikh Ahmed al-Shaibani, told the Associated Press news agency Mr Maliki "should not forget that his government was backed" by the Sadr movement.

He said Mr Maliki had tried to shore up his government with the attack on Mr Sadr's group.

According to Mr Shaibani, Mr Maliki's comments indicated he was ready to implement the US agenda of "ending the Mehdi Army militarily and politically".

Iraq PM invites politicians to join new bloc

Source ::: REUTERS

BAGHDAD • Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki yesterday called on political groups to join a proposed new alliance that would cut across sectarian lines and support his embattled government.

"This front is open to all those who agree with us over the necessity of improving the performance of the government, its (institutions) and in facing the threats against it," Maliki told a news conference.

His remarks follow reports in recent weeks that the ruling Shi'ite Alliance and two big Kurdish parties, which together hold a majority in parliament, planned to form an alliance in the wake of defections from the government by some politicians.

The main Sunni Arab bloc is boycotting cabinet and parliament meetings over what it says is unfair treatment of its members, although the move also reflects the deep sectarian divide in Iraqi politics.

Six ministers loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr quit the government in April over Maliki's refusal to set a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. Sadr's parliamentary bloc is also boycotting the legislature in protest at the bombing of a revered Shi'ite shrine last month.

Some Sunni Arab politicians and followers of Sadr, responding to the earlier reports of the proposed alliance, have said the move was a way to "sideline" them.

But Maliki said his critics were free to join if they were committed to resolving difference by peaceful means.

"It is open to all and we invite all those who participate in politics to join ... but it's unacceptable for them to have one foot in terrorism, violence and extremism," Maliki said.

A Maliki aide said this week the prime minister would shrink his cabinet to improve the government's performance amid frustration at its failure to deliver on security and political reform.

Maliki has said for months he wanted a reshuffle to cull inefficient ministers and bring in more technocrats. On Tuesday, he acknowledged the government's performance had been poor.

Cabinet posts reflect a quota system largely based on seats held in parliament by the Shi'ite majority, minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds. This has made many ministers more loyal to their political and sectarian blocs than Maliki.

Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki yesterday demanded the movement loyal to fiery cleric Muqtada Al Sadr take a clear stance on "terrorism" being committed by elements linked to the group.

Maliki used unusually tough language following recent unrest in southern Shi'ite cities where Sadr's Mehdi Army has clashed with Iraqi and US security forces.

"We hear from officials in the Sadr movement that they're against the use of weapons and condemn those who do (use them)," Maliki told reporters.

"The leadership of the movement must take clear and decisive decisions so they do not carry the responsibility of those who act in their name," he added.

Fighting between the Mehdi Army and Iraqi security forces has killed dozens of people in recent weeks in the relatively calm southern cities of Nassiriya, Diwaniya and Samawa.

Sadr, who has great appeal among Iraq's Shi'ite masses, was influential in Maliki's rise to power more than a year ago. But ties appear to have cooled.

Sadr's parliamentary bloc is also boycotting the legislature in protest at the bombing of a revered Shi'ite shrine last month in the city of Samarra.

Elvis has Left the Nation-Building

Moqtada Al-Sadr has reportedly left Iraq for Iran due to fears of American attacks and divisions within his own Mahdi Army evidenced by recent U.S. attacks on rogue Mahdi Army elements.

What's more interesting is that he apparently left 2-3 weeks ago.

Maybe this shows that the Americans and the Shiite-led government are going to take the militias and warlords leading them seriously. That would be a lot better than reaching some kind of understanding that lets the militias run amok.

Or maybe it shows that the government tipped Sadr off and he was able to get out before being arrested. That would be the less-optimistic analysis.

Who knows. All we know is, he'll be back.

Iraqi Interior Ministry Charges 57 With Corruption

For the first time, the Iraqi Interior Ministry has charged members of its Shiite-oriented forces, including high-ranking officers, with torturing Iraqi Sunnis. 57 were implicated, but only 55 are now being charged.

Apparently the documentation very clearly indicates that torture was occurring at a Baghdad prison known as "Site 4."

Problematic units included the special police commandos and the public order brigade.

This is seen as a test of the power of new Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, who replaced Bayan Jabr, widely seen as having transformed the Interior Ministry into a haven for Shiite militiamen. Bolani is independent, but not politically connected enough to remove those with ties to the militia-linked Shiite government.

One thing that seems to have worked is that Bolani set up committees to find evidence of human rights violations and uses this evidence to move forward with removing violators from positions in his agency.

One interesting angle both the Washington Post and New York Times take on the story is the United States's recent threats to withdraw financial support of the Iraqi government because U.S. law makes it illegal to have dealings with governments that allow gross violations of human rights to go unpunished. If Bolani can come up with pictures and other evidence they can bring to the Americans of human rights violations, the Maliki government has to cooperate with his steps to remove the violators.

If you ever wonder if the so-called Leahy Law was effective, there's your proof.

Khalilzad to Leave

News reports state that United States Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad is likely to leave his post in the coming months.

On Saddam Hussein's Imminent Demise

Today we learned what we already knew: that Saddam Hussein would be sentenced to death for the murderous misrule of his fellow Iraqis.

Many people consider a death sentence obvious justice for a man who committed genocide. Others are against any execution on principle.

I, frankly, wish Saddam would have received the death penalty for the murderous repression of the majority of his people rather than just the Anfal campaign against the Kurds. But, well, I suppose Saddam probably could only be tried for one campaign of genocide at a time.

I favor Saddam's execution for the same reason Niccolo Macchiavelli said that new rulers of states should execute former ruling families.

The execution of Saddam Hussein will remove the hope of Saddam and his supporters that as a result of post-American upheaval he might return to power or political prominence in Iraq (or a Gelbian Sunni mini-state) over the next decade or so.

Eliminating a rallying point for revanchists and end a threat to Iraqi unity is a good reason to go forward with the execution of Saddam Hussein. Once Saddam is executed, I hope that an bloody and ignominious chapter of middle east politics can be closed.

Saddam Sentenced to Death

Here are the papers on the Saddam Hussein death verdict:

In the Washington Post:

• King Sneer: Saddam Hussein Keeps Up the Drama, Right Into the Final Act, by Philip Kennicott;
• Reactions to Verdict Reflect Shifts in Iraqis' Fortunes, by Sudarsan Raghavan and Salih Dehema; and
• Bush Applauds Hussein Verdict, by Peter Baker.

In the New York Times:

• Hussein Is Sentenced to Death by Hanging; by John F. Burns and Kirk Semple;
• Bush Trumpets Iraq Verdict to Rally Support, by Adam Nagourney and Jim Rutenberg;
• Mideast Expected the Verdict but Doubts Whether It’s Fair, by Hassan M. Fattah;
• In Iraq, Shiite Joy and a Boost for Prime Minister, by Sabrina Tavernise;
• In a Divided Iraq, Reaction to Saddam Death Sentence Conforms to Sectarian Lines, also by Sabrina Tavernise; and
• Hussein Trial Was Flawed but Reasonably Fair, and Verdict Was Justified, Legal Experts Say, by Julia Preston.

In the L.A. Times:

• Verdict Stirs Fury, Praise, Among Iraqis, by Louise Roug;
• In Dujayl, relief at last for a family of victims; by Ken Ellingwood and Ibraheem Dujayli; and
• An angry hometown crowd, also by Louise Roug.

Today's Bloomberg wire report:

• Iraqi Shiites, Kurds Rejoice on Verdict; Sunnis Mourn.

From Reuters:

• IRAQ: Hear Our Voices – Saddam faces death, but victims' suffering continues;
• Iraq starts to lift curfew after Saddam verdict, by Alastair Macdonald; and
• Europeans urge Iraq not to execute Saddam, from IRIN.

Why are U.S. Forces Besieging Sadr City?

According to the Washington Post,

1. American forces believe some part of the Mahdi Army is responsible for capturing an Iraqi-American soldier. The soldier's brother, who was captured at the same time and released, said the Mahdi Army was responsible for their capture. U.S. forces are basically trying to get the American soldier back.
2. The U.S. military is trying to capture notorious death squad leader Abu Deraa, who has been claimed off and on by the Mahdi Army.

The U.S. looks like it has taken a stand it is hard to back down from without success. Either they get Abu Deraa or retreat like they did from the capture of Mohammad Farah Aidid in Mogadishu. And they either get the American soldier or admit they cannot save him.

The real question is whether the two operations are the same thing, overlap somewhat or are different parties of a larger strategy. Is the U.S. trying to capture Abu Deraa in order to get an American soldier back?