Iraq's al-Sadr visits Turkey

[bemildred]

Source: al Jazeera

Muqtada al-Sadr, a prominent Iraqi Shia leader, has held talks with Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, on the situation in Iraq, a government official has said.

Al-Sadr was believed to have been in Iran before his trip to Ankara, the Turkish capital, on Friday.

A Turkish foreign ministry official said: "The political process is increasingly normalised in Iraq ... is here for political consultations with the Turkish authorities on these matters."

Al-Sadr also met Abdullah Gul, the Turkish president, in the presence of Murat Ozcelik, Turkey's special envoy to Iraq.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/05/20095115592374529.html

[ohio2007]

1. Pictured: The moment teenage suicide bomber was wrestled to the ground by Iraqi police

No paticular reason for posting it on this thread, here are the pics of
the face of the FAILED suicide bomber in Kirkuk

Captured: Iraqi officials move quickly to restrain the young suicide bomber in the grounds of a Shi'ite mosque in Kirkuk, Iraq - the teenager is bleeding from the head
With his vest stuffed with explosives, this young man was hoping to kill himself and dozens of worshipers inside a Shi'ite mosque in Iraq.
But in extraordinary scenes, police and security officials wrangled the teenager to the ground moments before he entered the building.
With blood streaming from his head, possibly from hitting the hard ground, the 19-year-old fell unconscious.

snip

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1176302/Pictured-The-moment-teenage-suicide-bomber-wrestled-ground-Iraqi-police.html#

Iraqi cops spoiled his 72 virgin adventure that the mullahs always preech about.
al Sadre is no exception. Could this be considered police brutality in a sharia court of law ?

[bemildred]

2. Iraqi anti-US cleric Sadr resurfaces in Turkey

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"He is going from Iran to Turkey to meet a delegation from (the Iraqi shrine city of) Najaf and to hold discussions with the Turkish side about the situation in Iraq and its future," senior Sadr aide Haidar al-Turfi earlier told AFP.

Turfi is the first senior official from Sadr's movement to say directly that Sadr has been in Iran.

His followers have always said he was in hiding in Iraq, while the US military has long said he was living in Iran.

Sadr was to travel with several senior figures from his movement, after an earlier delegation went to Ankara six months ago to lay the groundwork for the trip, Turfi added.

http://www.terra.net.lb/wp/Articles/DesktopArticle.aspx?ArticleID=454866&ChannelId=4

[muryan]

3. This won't be well received in Istanbul

Ankara might be ok with it, but as much as they are pushing to join the EU, the ruling class is going to be none too pleased.