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| A man in the southern Iraqi city of Basra walks by a billboard that glorifies Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, leader of the
Mahdi Army militia, by picturing him along with other Shiite imams. Sam Dagher |
As British leave Basra, militias dig in
An Iraqi official says a deal was struck with the Mahdi Army to ensure a safe departure.
from the August 28, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
The Mahdi Army, which according to one estimate, numbers about 17,000 in Basra and is divided into about 40 sariyas (company-size military unit), is the strongest among its rivals in the militia-infiltrated police force and it has influence over vital sectors such as health, education, power distribution, and ports.
Although Basra, an economically important port city in a province with some of the largest oil deposits in the world, is considerably calmer and less violent than Baghdad, it faces a low-intensity, yet vicious, battle between the Mahdi Army and its many competitors that has spread fear and apprehension among many of the city's estimated 1.8 million residents.
One local official says about 5,000 assassinations have occurred inside the city in the past two years.
It was at a Friday night meeting when two Mahdi Army commanders and a lawyer tied to Sadr came to an Iraqi government official's home to ask about one of their senior leaders. They wanted to know if Sajad was among 26 detainees released by British forces. Their cases were recently transferred to the Iraqi judicial system. Half had already been freed because the court deemed the evidence submitted by the British side insufficient to prosecute them. The rest have been released on bail, according to the lawyer, Yahya al-Taie.
One commander, who asked not to be named, carefully looked over a list of detainees until he found Sajad's name. He commands fighters in the city's Garmat Ali section. His arrest last year was hailed as a coup by British forces during their offensive against militias in the city as part of Operation Sinbad that lasted from September 2006 to March 2007.Now, as the British prepare for departure, Sajad was freed.
"The arrests did not stop the rockets, nor did the rockets defeat the British," said the security source. "We needed to find an alternative solution that would calm things down a bit."
The palaces that the British will vacate have been the target of constant rocket and mortar attacks, which have declined over the past 10 days.
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