Iraq's Maliki threatens to bar Sadr from vote

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Iraq's Maliki threatens to bar Sadr from vote
Mon Apr 7, 2008 7:21am EDT

By Peter Graff

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister raised the stakes
in his showdown with followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr, saying in an interview broadcast on Monday they
would be barred from elections unless their militia disbands.

The comments followed raids on Sunday by security forces
into the cleric's Baghdad stronghold, the slum of Sadr City,
which brought heavy fighting back to the capital after a
week of relative calm when Sadr called his militia off the
streets.

-snip-

"Solving the problem comes in no other way than dissolving the
Mehdi Army," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in an interview
with CNN. "They no longer have a right to participate in the
political process or take part in the upcoming elections unless
they end the Mehdi Army."

It was the first time Maliki has singled out Sadr's Mehdi Army
militia by name and ordered it to disband. He said government
troops would continue a crackdown -- first launched in the
southern city of Basra late last month -- in Sadr City.

-snip-


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL0434078820080407

---

Of course, Maliki would undermine the legitimacy of the coming
elections, one of the key political goals of the "surge."

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. That'll stop 'em. Nuri al-Maliki is one tough hombre, isn't he?

What a joke.

[saigon68]

11. Hmmm------- Malaki as Chimpanzee

There is only one Chimpy


This One

[acmavm]

2. Maliki was just made to look like a bumbling incompetent by

al Sadr. Why does he insist on pushing his luck?

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. He was cast in the same mold as Bush.

Nuff sed.

[Bragi]

3. Good luck with that, Mr. Maliki

One suspects that al-Sadr won't be keen on disbanding his militia any more than al-Maliki is keen on standing on his own without US military backing.

I guess the big question is whether the US intends to make the non-disbursement of the Mehdi army a sufficient reason for Malaki to ban al-Sadr's party from running in the fall elections.

My guess is that the US will indeed decide that this ought to be so, since it is probably the only way they can get their puppet Prime Minister to be sort-of "re-elected".

- B

[tama]

5. Will decide?

The ugly American has allready decided that sadrists, the Iraqi nationalists, stand in way of getting their petrolaw accepted, in the way of permanent bases etc., so they tell they puppet to try to exclude the sadrist movement from political process, and so the puppet dances.

[tchunter]

6. looks like iraq has really become democratic

Maliki seems to forget that Sadr's support is the only reason he became prime minister in the first place. He's just trying to retain power because he knows that Sayyid Moqtada's party would take a huge chunk of the vote.

[nealmhughes]

7. Bloody pesky multiparty elections!

al Sadr: "OK, you're disbanded. Take your guns and grenades and go home."

Maliki: "That's more like it."

Maliki a day or two later: "Wait, they took their weaps home, so what does that leave us? Shit! We can't even get the Shia to stop lobbing shells into the Green Zone. George! What do we do now?"

al Sadr: "I said they were disbanded, not that they were puppets. Now, PM, we need to have a talk about continued US presence in the nation and that petrocarbon law. My friends in Teheran are very interested in peace . . ."

Condaliza Rice: "Birth pangs of a great democracy are in progress, the violence and volatility are just a comma, not a full stop."

US public: "Why does cheese cost so much these days? Is Brittany back at the nervous hospital?"

George Bush: "Hey, pull my finger!"

[fed-up]

8. Iraq's Maliki threatens to bar Sadr from vote (article states 7 Killed on Sunday)

Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister raised the stakes in his showdown with followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, saying in an interview broadcast on Monday they would be barred from elections unless their militia disbands.

The comments followed raids on Sunday by security forces into the cleric's Baghdad stronghold, the slum of Sadr City, which brought heavy fighting back to the capital after a week of relative calm when Sadr called his militia off the streets.

U.S. forces reported two more deaths across Iraq on Sunday, bringing the single day toll to seven, making it one of the deadliest days for American troops since the arrival of extra forces last year reduced violence over the second half of 2007.

"Solving the problem comes in no other way than dissolving the Mehdi Army," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in an interview with CNN. "They no longer have a right to participate in the political process or take part in the upcoming elections unless they end the Mehdi Army."

Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/story.html?id=34bd47ec-5748-472a-b6b2-5a12e575dfbf&k=6477

---

and yes, Seven killed on Sunday confirmed by icasualties
http://icasualties.org/oif/BY_DOD.aspx

04/06/08 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack Baghdad
04/06/08 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending Hostile - hostile fire - Rocket fire Rustamiyah
04/06/08 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending Non-hostile Baghdad
04/06/08 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending Hostile - hostile fire - rocket attack Baghdad (Green Zone)
04/06/08 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending Hostile - hostile fire - rocket attack Baghdad (Green Zone)
04/06/08 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack Diyala Province
04/06/08 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack Diyala Province

[hobbit709]

9. Well, that threat should work about as well as his other ones.

[ohio2007]

10. If al Sadr ever decides its safe to return from Iran, I wonder if he will finally be arrested

on those murder charges.
No, I don't think he will come back to Iraq..... unless,
he starts wearing a burka

[ohio2007]

12. Gates Doubts Al-Sadr Would Be Arrested ( but what does he know about Iraqi politics)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3264401

Baghdad, "Behind closed doors" while Mookies #2 takes a dirt nap

...It must be Friday
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e29_1207938458

/out