Compare and Contrast
From Reuters:
BAGHDAD, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Influential Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr praised his followers on Monday for obeying his ceasefire order, but criticised the Shi’ite-led government for failing to demand a withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Sadr, whose followers hold sway in Shi’ite areas of Baghdad and across parts of the south of the country, ordered his Mehdi Army militia to cease its activities in August, a surprise move that U.S. commanders said helped reduce bloodshed in Iraq.
"Turning to my brethren in the Mehdi Army, I thank them for their obedience to the halt," he said in a lengthy statement to his followers.
But he also strongly criticised the United States, describing President George W. Bush as the "master of evil", and rebuked the ruling Shi’ite parties for failing to call for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
"The parliament is Iraqi and the government is Iraqi, so where are your tongues? Raise your voice, my brothers … to expel the occupation," he said.
Sadr has long embraced fiery anti-American rhetoric, but his political strategy has varied over the years, often unpredictably.
The Mehdi Army rose up against U.S.-led forces twice in 2004. In 2005, his movement joined the Shi’ite coalition that leads the U.S.-backed government, but it quit the cabinet earlier this year in protest at Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s refusal to set a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops.
For much of this year, U.S. forces said they considered rogue Mehdi Army units to be their greatest threat, although attacks have subsided since the August ceasefire.
Sadr’s followers have also fought with rival Shi’ite groups in the south. (Reporting by Peter Graff; Editing by Michael Winfrey)
Reuters AlertNet - Iraq’s Sadr praises followers for obeying ceasefire
From the independent Iraki newsagency Aswat Al Iraq (Voices of Iraq)
Indexed under: Mahdi ArmySadrist official says campaign "systematic," threatens "civil disobedience"
Karbala - Voices of Iraq
Monday , 03 /12 /2007 Time 12:58:35
Karbala, Dec 3, (VOI) – ِA Sadrist politician accused the Iraqi government of launching what he branded as "systematic liquidation" campaign against Sadrists, or Iraqis loyal to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, threatening civil disobedience if detention of Sadrists continued.
"Our visit to Karbala has to do with the al-Shahid al-Sadr’s office in the province and not for any government body," Abu Firas al-Mutairi, who led Sadr’s delegation to Karbala, said during a press conference on Sunday.
Mutairi urged the Iraqi government "not to act as lenient tool in the hands of the occupation forces and to apply the law fairly on all."
On Sunday a Sadrist source in Karbala said a delegation sent by Shiite leader al-Sadr arrived in Karbala on a fact-finding mission regarding arrests targeting Sadrists and their Mahdi Army militias.
"The delegation is comprised of Sadrist legislators and politicians," said Sheikh Abdul-Hadi al-Muhammadawi in statements to the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI), not revealing the names of the delegation members.
The delegation, which is to discuss security and political developments in Karbala to convey a clear picture to Muqtada al-Sadr, is scheduled to meet with officials, citizens and detainees in the province, he said.
Sadr’s office strongly denounced arrests targeting his followers after the August 28, 2007 incidents of al-Ziyara al-Shaabaniya, or the mid-Shaaban visit, a holy pilgrimage for Shiite Muslims, in which hundreds of civilians were killed or wounded and government and private property set ablaze.
The incidents were followed by a large wave of arrests by the Iraqi police in Karbala.
The sacred city of Karbala witnessed bloody incidents in late August when armed men clashed with police forces and guards protecting the tombs of Imams al-Hussein and his brother al-Abbas.
Clashes renewed a day later while the city was teeming with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who were attending the al-Ziyara al-Shaabaniya to celebrate the birth anniversary of the Messiah-like Imam al-Mahdi, the 12th holiest figure for Shiite Muslims.
48 people were killed and 384 others were wounded, some of them seriously, in those clashes, according to official figures.
