Word: sadr
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...militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr stepped back into Iraq's political fray Friday with an offer that (if genuine) Washington would be hard-pressed to refuse: Set a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and the Mahdi Army will begin to disband. "The main reason for the armed resistance is the American military presence," said Sadr emissary Salah al-Ubaidi, who spoke to reporters in Najaf Friday. "If the American military begins to withdrawal, there will be no need for these armed groups...
...Sadr in the past has vowed to expand the humanitarian work of his movement but promised to maintain fighters from his Mahdi Army militia, which has fought against both the Iraqi government and U.S. forces. Al-Ubaidi's remarks effectively offered the strongest assurances yet that the Mahdi Army is willing to stand down entirely in Iraq, if American military forces back away...
...stall in the talks on a long-term pact came as U.S. leaders began suggesting they were ready to consider a significant drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq, where violence has dropped significantly since the beginning of the year. Sadr appears to have grown impatient with the deadlock, which prevents any movement on the central demand of his armed movement: U.S. withdrawal. The offer by Sadr, easily the nimblest player in the politics of violence practiced in Iraq, has effectively seated him at the negotiating table with the Americans despite his having broken with the government of Iraqi Prime Minister...
...Leaving Sadr City that afternoon, Mohanid gets a call on his mobile phone. "The American base is on fire!" he exclaims with a grin. True enough, it is. On the southeast edge of Sadr City, residents watch as flames sputter from the broken windows of a multistory building on a joint American-Iraqi base. A helicopter hovers through the thick black smoke above, airlifting Iraqi police who have been trapped on the roof, as powerful hoses blast the flames with water from below. But this was no product of the Mahdi Army, which has kept to its official "resting" stance...
...Sadr's dormant militia does decide to stir - should frustration over a lack of services, perceived discrimination or an American threat provoke them once more - the question remains of just how real the semblance of an Iraqi military grip on the city is. "The state is weak," says Abbas. "If Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr wanted to call on the Mahdi Army to fight again, this city would collapse in a single...