Word: basra
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...face of an empowered Iraqi security force. Indeed, many officials allied with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government say the cleric's militia and Sadrist political movement have been substantially weakened through military crackdowns on their strongholds in Sadr City and the southern cities of Amara and Basra over the past four months. "We don't think they will try to fight again, because they are too weak now," says an Interior Ministry official. "If they start, it will be their end." Says Ali Saadi, a medical professor in the Hay al-Banook district, where the Shi'ite militia...
...says the smuggling problem has only increased since the start of the war in 2003, "because the American forces don't control the border." Agence France Presse reported last week that drug-trafficking arrests in Amara hit a new high last year, at 46. Most of the drugs, Basra military officials say, are opiates and cannabis, believed to originate in Afghanistan, that pass through Iran and Iraq for sale in the richer Gulf states...
...formal extent of Iran's role remains murky. Some Iraqi commanders are even wary of naming Iran as a party in the smuggling, though they will point to Basra and Maysan as problem areas. "Basra province is a big province and its borders are open, not just to Iran, but to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia," says one soldier. "All three countries are supplying the militias with weapons...
Other officers are more suggestive. Captain Saad, a military spokesman in Basra, says there was no cooperation between Iraqi and Iranian authorities with regard to border control. On the contrary, he says, "We received a letter one month ago from the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they condemned an incident where Iraqi forces shot at some smugglers in the Shatt al-Arab...
...decade-long conflict, and many - despite the countries' new friendship - are wary of Iran's current intentions. "We should build something like the Great Wall of China between Iraq and Iran to prevent anyone from coming over," says one soldier, driving in an army convoy from Al-Faw to Basra. To his right, an oil refinery in the Iranian city of Abadan spouts flames on the horizon...