Word: basra
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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...
...Coming in the wake of the resolution to last week's fighting in Basra, this latest move only confirms to many Sadr's breath of power and the limits of Maliki's. Three days into his poorly executed military campaign on Basra - initially commended by Washington as a decisive show of strength by the government - the Prime Minister extended by ten days a deadline for militants to lay down their arms. Now, despite what the U.S. Embassy and Coalition forces have called a successful run in Basra, Maliki appears to have eased the pressure off the Mahdi Army entirely...
...Thursday, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker told reporters that the government's initiative in Basra had been a positive development, but also admitted that "gains here [in Iraq] are fragile." He said Maliki was "pretty sober" on his return from Basra, and was "not coming back in any kind of triumphal spirit...
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...