Sadr orders militia not to evict Iraqis from their homes

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Media: AFP
Byline:
Date: 16 October 2006


NAJAF, Iraq, Oct 16, 2006 (AFP) - Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr,
one of the most influential figures in Iraq, called on his followers on
Monday to stop driving people from their homes.

"They should forbid the forced displacement of either our brother Shiites
or Sunnis, but naturally this should be done through peaceful and political
means in coordination with political bodies," he said in a statement
entitled "directives of Moqtada al-Sadr to the Mahdi Army".

Sadr founded the Mahdi Army, one of the most powerful militias in the
country, but it appears to be only nominally under his control.

The militia has been repeatedly implicated in sectarian-motivated attacks
that have left the morgues of the nation choked with bodies.

On Friday he issued a statement saying that if the rumors about his
followers taking part in such killings were true, he would denounce them.

The latest directives to the militia also told them to "exert their efforts
to return the Sunnis and Shiites who have been displaced to their homes".

Over 300,000 Iraqis have fled their homes in the orgy of violence and
intimidation that erupted between the Sunni and Shiite communities in the
country following the destruction of a Shiite shrine in Samarra in
February.

Finally Sadr called on his followers to help restore the services that most
Iraqis are deprived from on a daily basis for the last three years.

In recent months black-clad fighters claiming allegiance to the Mahdi Army
have once again been involved in fighting with US and Iraqi forces and have
been accused of supporting sectarian death squads.

US commanders now cite Shiite militias as the biggest single threat to the
stability of Iraq and warn that they are awaiting the green light from
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to launch an operation to clear Sadr City of
gunmen.

Maliki has refused to give the green light for any operation into Sadr City
for fear of destroying the whole neighborhood.
 
Back
Top