Word: maliki
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...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, but the cleric...
Jamila market had become an abandoned dusty lot as the blasts of missiles, mortars and gunfire rattled the surrounding buildings in Baghdad's Sadr City. That was two months ago, at the height of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's military campaign in the fiercely hostile Sadr City district of Baghdad. Today, Jamila Market is teeming with life. Vendor after vendor hawks piles of watermelons, cabbages, tomatoes, mint leaves and other foods. Shops along the walls behind the market sit with doors swung open, their display windows inviting shoppers to buy suits, purses, shoes, and cosmetics...
...when Maliki and Sadr, for whom Sadr City has long been a political stronghold, struck a 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...
...thoroughly devastated. Among the poorest and most marginalized sections of Baghdad, the Sadr stronghold has suffered neglect and disrepair since the days of Saddam Hussein. After the fighting in April and May, that damage is now exponentially higher. Indeed, rebuilding Sadr City will be a crucial test for Maliki if he is to succeed in consolidating his divided and war-ravaged country...
...have to win over the residents. Saadi says attitudes towards the government have soured since the clashes, even for a neighborhood that has traditionally viewed the government with suspicion. "After what happened," he says, "people have started to hate everything that is connected to the government . . . People here see Maliki as the same as Saddam...