Word: sadr
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Francois Mitterand. Taking the advice, Kerry unveiled a plan Wednesday to cut the budget deficit by half in four years. No one noticed. With unrest in Iraq growing by the hour, reporters spent the day asking Kerry if the U.S. should ?take out? Shi?ite Ayatollah Moqtada al-Sadr or simply bring the troops home. They ignored Kerry?s repeated attempts to turn their attention back to the exciting world of fiscal discipline...
...dilemma becomes even more acute as U.S. commanders ponder a response to Friday's Shiite festival of Araba'in, which is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of Shiites to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. That's because the city is currently under the control of Moqtada Sadr's militia, and the cleric is holed up in his office there near the tomb of Imam Ali, the holiest shrine of the Shiite sect. The U.S. has vowed to destroy the Mahdi militia and arrest Moqtada, but the expected convergence on Najaf on Friday raises the stakes...
...Sadr's movement is believed to represent a minority among Iraqi Shiites, although one apparently far more substantial than Coalition officials may be comfortable admitting. The fact that after three days of fighting his forces remain in control of government facilities they seized in Najaf, Kufa and Kut, as well as the streets of the sprawling Baghdad slum of Sadr City, suggests the 30-year-old firebrand commands substantial support among the Shiite urban poor. More importantly, however, while more moderate and influential Shiite leaders such as Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani hedge their bets in response to Moqtada's challenge...
...Sistani to intervene. But the Grand Ayatollah has problems of his own with the Coalition and the IGC, and has been agitating against the U.S.-brokered interim constitution which grants veto power to ethnic minorities and also for rapid transfer of power to a democratically elected government. Indeed, Moqtada Sadr has enthusiastically championed the same demands in the course of his rebellion, which is nonetheless a power play in which the radical Islamist hopes to eclipse the influence of rival Shiite leaders, including Sistani...
...More worrying, perhaps, are attempts by both Sadr supporters and Sunni insurgents to reach out across the Sunni-Shiite divide to build a common front of resistance to the U.S.-led occupation. The strongest factor working in the Coalition's favor had been the historic enmity of the long-suffering Shiites for the Baathists who continue to play a leading role in the Sunni insurgency. But, over the past week, Sunni insurgents have expressed support for Sadr, who has called for a rebellion by all sects, and Sunni crowds in Baghdad marched alongside Sadr supporters. That spectacle won't please...