Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
April 5, 2007
Pg. 10
Firings Show First Signs Of Tension In Shiite Bloc
By Wire reports
BAGHDAD — Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr fired two senior members of his movement Wednesday after they met with a top U.S. military officer, a lawmaker close to the anti-American cleric told the Associated Press.
It was one of the first public signs of tension in the Shiite movement, which holds a quarter of the parliamentary seats in the ruling alliance of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Al-Sadr also controls the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia that the U.S. military blames for much of the sectarian violence plaguing Baghdad.
Salam al-Maliki and Qusai Abdul-Wahab, both members of parliament in al-Sadr's bloc, were having a meal at the home of former prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Monday when the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, arrived, a legislator told the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Al-Maliki and Abdul-Wahab did not leave the room when Petraeus walked in, the lawmaker said. Al-Sadr fired the two when he heard they had broken his rule that lawmakers from his bloc must not speak with U.S. officials, the lawmaker said.
"We have fired them for meeting the occupiers. It is against our beliefs to meet the occupiers. We are seeking to replace them in parliament with another two brothers," Abdul Mahdi al-Mtiri, a Sadrist committee member, told Reuters.
Salam Al-Maliki, a former transportation minister, denied that he had been expelled.
"Some sides are trying to create chaos and problems (inside the movement)," he said.
Abdul-Wahab confirmed the pair were expelled from the party and said they had gone to al-Jaafari's house for a lunch that included about 70 others. He confirmed that Petraeus was present but denied that either he or Salam al-Maliki had spoken with him.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman said he could neither confirm nor deny a meeting between the two Sadrists and U.S. officials took place.
April 5, 2007
Pg. 10
Firings Show First Signs Of Tension In Shiite Bloc
By Wire reports
BAGHDAD — Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr fired two senior members of his movement Wednesday after they met with a top U.S. military officer, a lawmaker close to the anti-American cleric told the Associated Press.
It was one of the first public signs of tension in the Shiite movement, which holds a quarter of the parliamentary seats in the ruling alliance of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Al-Sadr also controls the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia that the U.S. military blames for much of the sectarian violence plaguing Baghdad.
Salam al-Maliki and Qusai Abdul-Wahab, both members of parliament in al-Sadr's bloc, were having a meal at the home of former prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Monday when the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, arrived, a legislator told the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Al-Maliki and Abdul-Wahab did not leave the room when Petraeus walked in, the lawmaker said. Al-Sadr fired the two when he heard they had broken his rule that lawmakers from his bloc must not speak with U.S. officials, the lawmaker said.
"We have fired them for meeting the occupiers. It is against our beliefs to meet the occupiers. We are seeking to replace them in parliament with another two brothers," Abdul Mahdi al-Mtiri, a Sadrist committee member, told Reuters.
Salam Al-Maliki, a former transportation minister, denied that he had been expelled.
"Some sides are trying to create chaos and problems (inside the movement)," he said.
Abdul-Wahab confirmed the pair were expelled from the party and said they had gone to al-Jaafari's house for a lunch that included about 70 others. He confirmed that Petraeus was present but denied that either he or Salam al-Maliki had spoken with him.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman said he could neither confirm nor deny a meeting between the two Sadrists and U.S. officials took place.