Word: basra
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...aftermath of the battle for Basra, the mood was quieter in Iraq as the two main contenders took pains to maintain the relative calm since the fighting stopped. The government forces of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Mahdi Army of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr kept gingerly away from each other. Throughout Baghdad and Basra on Friday, there was only sporadic violence, with attacks targeting Iraqi military units and the police...
...even on a quiet Friday, Maliki may again be buckling to Mahdi Army pressure. The Prime Minister called for a halt on military raids against militants in Basra and other areas of southern Iraq and in the Mahdi Army strongholds of Baghdad, effectively ending - for the time being - the largest Iraqi government military offensive to date. "All pursuits and raids in all areas will be stopped. Those who take up arms will face the law," Maliki said in a statement...
...Iraqi military's offensive in Basra was supposed to demonstrate the power of the central government in Baghdad. Instead it has proven the continuing relevance of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army, stood its ground in several days of heavy fighting with Iraqi soldiers backed up by American and British air power. But perhaps more important than the manner in which the militia fought is the manner in which it stopped fighting. On Sunday Sadr issued a call for members of the Mahdi Army to stop appearing in the streets with their weapons...
...view of many American troops and officers, the Mahdi Army had splintered irretrievably into a collection of independent operators and criminal gangs. Now, however, the conclusion of the conflict in Basra shows that when Sadr speaks, the militia listens...
That apparent authority is in marked contrast to the weakness of Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki. He traveled south to Basra with his security ministers to supervise the operation personally. After a few days of intense fighting he extended his previously announced deadline for surrender and offered militants cash in exchange for their weapons. Yet in the cease-fire announcement the militia explicitly reserved the right to hold onto its weapons. And the very fact of the cease-fire flies in the face of Maliki's proclamation that there would be no negotiations. It is Maliki...