Word: moqtada
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...point to the recent fighting in the southern city of Basra as evidence of poor Iraqi leadership and ill-prepared and unmotivated U.S.-trained Iraqi troops. While Iran helped negotiate a deal that curbed the fighting in Basra, Tehran continues to supply Shi'ite groups linked to cleric Moqtada al Sadr with lethal weapons and training that continue to take a toll on U.S. forces, Pentagon officials say. That, they add glumly, suggests Iran could continue a game of hard-nosed cat-and-mouse for as long as U.S. troops are in Iraq...
...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...
Government spokesman Ali Dabbagh demurred, explaining to TIME: "We are giving armed individuals one more chance to hand over their weapons, giving them a chance not to break the law." He would not comment on what motivated Maliki's latest move. But the office of Moqtada al-Sadr had complained multiple times of government violations of the terms of last week's negotiated truce, and hinted at the potential for a relapse if those terms are not respected...
...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...
...after fighting between the Iraqi government and Shi'ite militias escalated alarmingly, anti-American militia chieftain Moqtada al-Sadr extended an olive branch. On Sunday Sadr told members of his militia to stop appearing in the streets with weapons and to halt their attacks on government institutions...