From hiding, Sadr rallies against the US
The radical Shiite cleric shows his strength with large anti-US rallies in the cities of Kufa and Najaf.
from the April 10, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Col. Steven Boylan, a US military spokesman in Baghdad, praised the peaceful nature of the demonstrations: "Iraqis could not have done this four years ago." He told the Associated Press that "this is the right to assemble, the right to free speech.... This is progress."
The US military also issued a statement on Sunday calling the operation in Diwaniyah, dubbed Black Eagle, a "great success" so far. It said it detained 39 militiamen and killed an unspecified number. It also has uncovered "many large caches of weapons," including factories that make explosively formed penetrators (EFPs), devices that Washington accuses Tehran of supplying to Sadr's militia.
A doctor in Diwaniyah, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said by telephone that a 24-hour curfew has been imposed on the city since Friday and that the hospital has so far received 11 bodies, including seven civilians, and 35 injured people.
Diwaniyah has been the scene of off-and-on violence over the past year, and the doctor said the fighting has been mainly a power struggle between the Sadrists and members of the local government, many of whom are beholden to a rival Shiite faction headed by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim.
"It is a turf battle between the [Shiite] parties," said Brig. Gen. Abdul Khaleq al-Badri, who was fired 20 days ago from his job as head of the Diwaniyah police force.
Mr. Hakim is a leading force in the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which also includes ministers loyal to Sadr.
A senior aide to Sadr says the battle in Diwaniyah as well as the targeting and arrest of Sadrists in Baghdad by US forces is all an effort to draw the Mahdi militia into a fight.
"They are trying to plunge us into a vortex of violence and sectarian fighting, but we are working hard to rise above it," says Sheikh Hassan al-Zargani, who is based in Beirut.
Sheikh Zargani says the movement is committed to "peaceful resistance against the occupation for now" whether by making its voice heard within the government or through street demonstrations.
He said he was not aware of any direct support to the Mahdi militia from Iran, or training from Lebanon's Hizbollah group, as charged by some US military officers.
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