Word: sadr
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Riyadh al-Nouri was several key things. He was the brother-in-law of Moqtada al-Sadr and a prominent official in the anti-American Shi'ite cleric's political organization. He was also, at one point in 2005, accused of spying for the Americans by members of his own party. And so, when he was shot and killed in the city of Kufa, reportedly by a gunman on a motorcycle, as he returned from Friday prayers, there were multiple suspects...
...powerful brother-in-law blamed the Americans. Some Sadrists believed rival Shi'ite militias may have been behind the killing; while others posit that it may have been an inside job from within the Sadr ranks. Only one thing is certain - the assassination has raised an outcry among Sadr's followers and threatened to push Iraq further into a relapse of sectarian violence, just as the Iraqi government prepared to lift its curfew on Sadr City, the battered Baghdad slum which is Sadr's stronghold...
...forces in recent weeks - expressed outrage on Friday afternoon, as news spread of Nouri's death. The province of Najaf, where Nouri was killed, has seen a rise in intra-Shi'ite violence in the past year, mostly in the form of tit-for-tat killings between Sadr's Mahdi Army and other Shi'ite militias, including the rival Badr Brigade, which has links to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa party...
Indeed, few Iraqis believe America will draw down troops soon, no matter what the rhetoric is. Even the allies of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who demands an immediate end to the "American occupation," expressed more apathy than a particular preference for Clinton or Obama - both of whom have called for a timetable for exiting the country. "Before each election campaign, we hear a lot of promises and slogans, but the reality after the election is something else," says Sadrist Member of Parliament Fawze Akram, who said he doubted any candidate would actually follow through on a speedy troop...
...wave of fighting. In recent months people inside the Green Zone felt safer and maybe a little bolder - possibly one reason for picking a fight in Basra. But a steady hail of rockets falling on and around Iraqi government buildings suddenly got Maliki talking about a political compromise with Sadr, at least for a time. In other words, the "heavily fortified" Green Zone is looking more like a soft spot...