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2008-08-30 15:45:30 UTC
Sadr Announces Suspension of Mahdi Army "Indefinitely"
Middle East Online. Posted August 29, 2008.
The powerful Shiite cleric, who first announced a ceasefire last
summer, says the Mahdi Army will carry out cultural activities
instead.
Najaf -- Iraqi Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr said on Thursday
that he has suspended indefinitely the activity of his feared 60,000
strong militia, the Mahdi Army.
"The Mahdi Army suspension will be valid indefinitely and anyone who
does not follow this order will not be considered a member of this
group," said a statement issued by Sadr in the Shiite shrine city of
Najaf.
"We have set a cultural program for the Madhi Army and we have named
it Al-Mumahidun (Supporters of the Mahdi), and everybody should abide
by it and whoever does not agree with it will be expelled from the
army."
There was no immediate explanation for Sadr's decision which came
after he promised earlier this month to dismantle the once feared
militia if a planned security pact between Baghdad and Washington
provides for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
The two sides are still negotiating the planned pact that would govern
U.S. troop levels and allow them to operate after a UN mandate expires
at the end of the year.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said this week that they had
agreed there would be no foreign forces in Iraq after 2011, setting a
timeline for a U.S. withdrawal.
Maliki stressed, however, that despite the progress, there were still
points of disagreement crucial to both sides in the proposed security
pact.
The White House has repeatedly echoed that no deal has been finalized.
Sadr ordered a six-month freeze in attacks on rival armed groups and
U.S. forces in August last year after allegations that his fighters
had been involved in bloody clashes with security forces in the shrine
city of Karbala.
The decision came at the same time many Sunni rebel groups in western
Iraq decided to join forces with the U.S. military to fight Al-Qaeda
and amid a "surge" in American troop numbers.
Sadr extended the freeze for a further six months in February.
The Iraqi prime minister ordered an offensive against militias in the
second city of Basra in late March which sparked fighting between the
security forces and Mahdi Army fighters in Shiite areas across central
and southern Iraq.
Hundreds were killed in street battles in the Baghdad Shiite district
of Sadr City which ended only with the signing of a truce on May 10.
Sadr forces have also clashed with other Shiite factions, notably the
Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) a Shiite religious party led by
Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, a key government ally of the prime minister.
Currently believed to be in Iran, Sadr led two uprisings against
U.S.-led coalition forces in 2004 and had repeatedly vowed to fight on
until U.S. troops leave.
The Mahdi Army, created after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, became the
most active and feared armed Shiite group, blamed by Washington for
death-squad killings of thousands of Sunnis.
It is named after Al-Mahdi Al-Montazar (the Awaited Mahdi) -- the
revered 12th imam who disappeared in 907.
Middle East Online. Posted August 29, 2008.
The powerful Shiite cleric, who first announced a ceasefire last
summer, says the Mahdi Army will carry out cultural activities
instead.
Najaf -- Iraqi Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr said on Thursday
that he has suspended indefinitely the activity of his feared 60,000
strong militia, the Mahdi Army.
"The Mahdi Army suspension will be valid indefinitely and anyone who
does not follow this order will not be considered a member of this
group," said a statement issued by Sadr in the Shiite shrine city of
Najaf.
"We have set a cultural program for the Madhi Army and we have named
it Al-Mumahidun (Supporters of the Mahdi), and everybody should abide
by it and whoever does not agree with it will be expelled from the
army."
There was no immediate explanation for Sadr's decision which came
after he promised earlier this month to dismantle the once feared
militia if a planned security pact between Baghdad and Washington
provides for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
The two sides are still negotiating the planned pact that would govern
U.S. troop levels and allow them to operate after a UN mandate expires
at the end of the year.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said this week that they had
agreed there would be no foreign forces in Iraq after 2011, setting a
timeline for a U.S. withdrawal.
Maliki stressed, however, that despite the progress, there were still
points of disagreement crucial to both sides in the proposed security
pact.
The White House has repeatedly echoed that no deal has been finalized.
Sadr ordered a six-month freeze in attacks on rival armed groups and
U.S. forces in August last year after allegations that his fighters
had been involved in bloody clashes with security forces in the shrine
city of Karbala.
The decision came at the same time many Sunni rebel groups in western
Iraq decided to join forces with the U.S. military to fight Al-Qaeda
and amid a "surge" in American troop numbers.
Sadr extended the freeze for a further six months in February.
The Iraqi prime minister ordered an offensive against militias in the
second city of Basra in late March which sparked fighting between the
security forces and Mahdi Army fighters in Shiite areas across central
and southern Iraq.
Hundreds were killed in street battles in the Baghdad Shiite district
of Sadr City which ended only with the signing of a truce on May 10.
Sadr forces have also clashed with other Shiite factions, notably the
Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) a Shiite religious party led by
Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, a key government ally of the prime minister.
Currently believed to be in Iran, Sadr led two uprisings against
U.S.-led coalition forces in 2004 and had repeatedly vowed to fight on
until U.S. troops leave.
The Mahdi Army, created after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, became the
most active and feared armed Shiite group, blamed by Washington for
death-squad killings of thousands of Sunnis.
It is named after Al-Mahdi Al-Montazar (the Awaited Mahdi) -- the
revered 12th imam who disappeared in 907.