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Followers of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr hope to win back their position as a major force in this month's regional elections after a string of military and political setbacks last year.
Militant Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr plans to make a series of short visits to Iraq starting within weeks but has decided to make Iran his home base for years to come, a key aide says.
Differences have emerged between the U.S. and Iraq on how to deal with Shiite militant Muqtada al-Sadr, with the Americans appearing more willing than the Shiite-led government to concede a legitimate political role to the anti-U.S. cleric.
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is demanding the Iraqi government reinstate all security forces fired for deserting during fighting in Basra.
The Iraqi government has welcomed an order by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to pull his fighters off the streets.
Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has sought to reassert his leadership over the powerful Mahdi Army, assuring his followers in leaflets and on Web postings that he has day-to-day control of a militia that has become increasingly fractured in his absence.
Powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr explained why he has been absent from the public eye and acknowledged that some close followers have split from his movement in a rare statement distributed Friday.
Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has threatened to lift by the end of the week a six-month cease-fire widely credited with helping reduce violence in Iraq, officials said Wednesday.
The head of Iraq's most powerful Shiite militia refuses to hold direct talks with U.S. envoys despite apparent willingness for dialogue by Washington, a spokesman for radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Wednesday.
The U.S. military said on Friday that firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr had returned to Iran, where he had spent several months earlier this year as the United States was sending 30,000 additional troops to the Baghdad area. Al-Sadr's office said he was still in Iraq.
From hiding, possibly in Iran, U.S. nemesis and radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is believed to be honing plans to sweep into the power vacuum made all the more intense by news that his chief Shiite rival has lung cancer. And he's betting the U.S. won't keep its troops in Iraq much longer.
The violent Shiite militia known as the Mahdi Army is breaking into splinter groups, with up to 3,000 gunmen now financed directly by Iran and no longer loyal to the firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, adding a potentially even more deadly element to Iraq's violent mix.
An adviser to Iraq's prime minister said Thursday that radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is in Iran, but denied he fled due to fear of arrest during an escalating security crackdown. Sami al-Askari said al-Sadr traveled to Iran by land "a few days ago," but gave no further details on how long he would stay. A member of al-Sadr's bloc in parliament, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals, said he left three weeks ago.
The chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq said Wednesday that Muqtada al-Sadr has left the country and is believed to be in Iran, despite denials from the radical Shiite cleric's supporters. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell declined to comment on the reasons al-Sadr had left the country or give more details.
Their rhetoric is still stridently anti-American, but Mahdi Army militiamen are tucking away their weapons and blending into civilian life. Their leaders are keeping out of sight.
U.S. commanders have signaled they will shy away from a Fallujah-style assault on the Baghdad stronghold of Iraq's biggest Shiite militia — even though President Bush insists that driving armed groups from the capital is key to his plan for success.
Someone probably should have told the Coalition Provisional Authority that they weren't in Kansas anymore...
Cleric Calls for Resistance to U.S. Presence in Iraq - NYTimes.comAs the Iraqi cabinet prepares to vote on a security agreement for American troops, the anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr called Friday for armed resistance against any agreement that allowed a continued United States presence in Iraq.
Lessons Learned: IRA and Mahdi ArmyFact number one about guerrilla wars: They're not over until the guerrillas win.
Bringing Ireland to Baghdad: How the Resistance Will Eventually Kick the Americans Out | War on Iraq | AlterNetIt's very easy to see what's up in Iraq right now -- if you're willing to face it. The trouble is, most "experts" aren't willing. That has been the pattern right from the beginning.
What would really rebuild IraqTrue, the United States has poured billions into rebuilding Iraq. But the standing joke among Iraqis is that a US company will be awarded a $10 billion contract.
Is an Iranian general pulling the strings in Iraq?Brig. Gen. Qassem Suleimani commands the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, an elite paramilitary and espionage organization whose mission is to expand Iran's influence in the Middle East.
Iraqi Forces Take Last Basra Areas From Sadr ForceIraqi soldiers took control of the last bastions of the cleric Moktada al-Sadr's militia in Basra on Saturday, and Iran's ambassador to Baghdad strongly endorsed the Iraqi government's monthlong military operation against the fighters
Cleric Sadr Threatens WarShi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday threatened an "open war" against the Iraqi government unless it halted a crackdown by Iraqi and U.S. security forces on his followers.
Iraqi unit flees post, despite American officer's plea - International Herald TribuneBAGHDAD: A company of Iraqi soldiers abandoned their positions on Tuesday night in Sadr City, defying American soldiers who implored them to hold the line against Shiite militias.
Political Affairs Magazine - Basra Battles: Barely Half the Story4-12-08, 11:10 am When it comes to Iraq, reporters appear intent on omitting or fabricating news.
Al Sadr reportedly ready to disband Mahdi ArmyIraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr will consult senior religious leaders and disband his Mahdi Army militia if they instruct him to, a senior aide said on Monday.
U.S. forces clash with gunmen in Iraq's Hilla | ReutersHILLA, Iraq, April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. forces called in helicopter strikes during a clash with gunmen on Thursday in the southern Iraqi city of Hilla, scene of fighting last week between security forces and Shi'ite militiamen.
Al-Sadr Calls for Million-Man March to Protest U.S. OccupationShiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr has hinted at retaliation if Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government does not immediately stop arresting his followers.
Iran's influence evident in BasraBoth sides may be simply interested in testing the waters at this stage. But the war over who will shape the future of Iraq, indeed of he Middle East as a whole, is in its early stages.
With the recent humiliation of Iraqi government troops at the hands of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army the last vestiges of hope for any sort of positive conclusion to the U.S. involvement in Iraq are fading rapidly.
Iraq Crisis Threatens Bush-petraeus "surge" Strategy As Bankrupt | Afterdowningstreet.org Central to the Bush-Petraeus Iraq strategy is to pacify and confuse American public opinion during the 2008 elections, an approach Gen. Petraeus calls "slowing down the American clock" to gain time for the counterinsurgency to continue.
FOXNews.com - Iraqi Government Welcomes Al-Sadr's Orders to Pull Fighters From StreetsAl-Sadr is demanding that the government issue a general amnesty and release all detainees. The statement said he also "disavows" anyone who carries weapons and targets government institutions, charities and political party offices.
Muqtaga al-Sadr Orders Fighters To Stand Down in IraqMuqtada al-Sadr, an Iraqi Shia leader, has ordered his fighters to withdraw from the streets of several provinces, six days after Iraqi forces mounted a crackdown against Shia armed groups.
Saturday: 2 US Soldiers, 171 Iraqis Killed, 289 Wounded - Antiwar.comAt least 171 Iraqis were killed and 289 were wounded across Iraq. These casualty figures may include updated numbers from previous days of fighting in the Mahdi Army clashes.
The Raw Story | Al-Sadr: I am in control of militiafeisty Muqtada al-Sadr, making his first public appearance since May, said in a TV interview aired Saturday that he was in almost total control of the Mahdi Army and that the "liberation" of Iraq was his militia's chief goal.
Iraq's Prime Minister Extends Basra Arms Deadline : NPRMorning Edition, March 28, 2008 · Iraq's prime minister on Friday extended a deadline for Shiite militants in southern Basra to hand over their weapons. Nouri al-Maliki also said the militants would receive a financial reward if they complied.
The Sadrists begin to escalate violence in IraqThe violence was part of an escalation in the confrontation between the Shiite-run government and al-Sadr's followers — a move that threatens the security gains achieved by U.S. and Iraqi forces. At least 22 people were killed in the Basra fighting.
Attacks put Mehdi Army ceasefire on shaky groundBaghdad: Mehdi Army fighters attacked police patrols in southern Baghdad overnight, police said on Friday, further fraying a seven-month-old ceasefire called by Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr to rein in his militia.
U.S. forces capture suspected 'Special Groups' commanderU.S. soldiers operating in Baghdad have captured an alleged "Special Groups" commander who is suspected of planning and carrying out several bomb attacks.
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