Word: mahdy
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...Amara, the capital of Iraq's unruly Maysan province - long a smuggling hub for weapons and drugs on Iraq's border with Iran - Iraqi forces are waging a crackdown on the Mahdi Army, led by popular radical Shi'ite cleric and opposition leader Muqtada al-Sadr. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched the campaign last month under the banner of "imposing the law" and wresting control away from militias operating "outside the law." Similar campaigns in Basra, the chaotic port 100 miles away, and Sadr City, the huge Baghdad slum, initially met fierce resistance from al-Sadr's followers...
...operation for political reasons. But the government says its arrests are unbiased and are warranted by criminal activity. The extent to which either claim is accurate is difficult to determine. But regardless of the reason, one thing is clear among Amara's newly fortified police force: the Mahdi Army is being hunted...
...Harbia's phone rings - not his regular mobile, but the new hotline that the Iraqi police force in Amara, 185 miles southeast of Baghdad, has set up to receive tips that could lead to arrests. The tip comes from a man who says he knows about a financier of Mahdi Army commanders in the region. Harbia's assistant takes down the information and says they will follow...
...peace agreement in mid-May, the situation took a turn for the better. Under the deal, Iraqi forces were allowed to enter the district to pursue wanted criminals, so long as they abstained from "random" arrests, and the U.S. military stayed on the outskirts. In return, Sadr asked his Mahdi Army to lay down their weapons...
...seems the cease-fire is working; rocket attacks on Baghdad's Green Zone have ground to a halt and the Mahdi Army seems to have been reined in. Saadi says the majority of the residents who fled have also started to trickle back, citing renewed security. Those who can afford it are rebuilding their destroyed homes. "We're not popping the champagne cork," says Major Mark Cheadle, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. "But are we seeing positive trends? Absolutely...