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| Iraq-Jordan | ||||
| Sadr offers peace deal in return for | ||||
| 2004-05-11 | ||||
| NAJAF : Rebel Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr offered to end his insurgency in Iraq if the US-led coalition agreed to negotiations, according to leaflets handed out by his office in Najaf. "I am ready to end everything if the occupation forces officially ask for negotiations on condition that these negotiations are just and transparent and under the stewardship of the Shiite religious authorities," according to a statement signed by him on Tuesday.
Sadr's Mehdi Army militia has suffered heavy losses during battles with the US-led military during fighting in the capital Baghdad and in southern Shiite cities.
Sadr is wanted by the US military in connection with the murder of a rival cleric last year. He has been holed up in the holy Shiite city of Najaf for more than a month where he has issued a series of dire threats against the US forces. "If I accept or don't accept negotiations, they (the US) are the ones who are escalating the situation and who don't want peace," said the statement.
"The calls for the Mehdi Army to leave Najaf and other cities are on the order of the biggest villain of them all, (US President George W.) Bush," according to the statement being handed out by supporters outside his office in Najaf.
The offer followed a demand by the new provincial governor of Najaf, Adnan al-Zorfi, that Sadr disband his militia. Zorfi also announced he was seeking 4,000 new members of the paramilitary Iraqi Civil Defense Corps to keep the peace in the city. | ||||
| Posted by:Steve |
| #4 The headline should've been "Tater totters." A future story on his interrogation could be entitled "Tater grilled." If he gets the electric chair, it'll be "Tater fries." If Italian troops had attacked Najaf, we might've seen the headline "Tater's forces mashed with garlic" -- but, sadly, that won't happen now. |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-05-11 3:43:31 PM |
| #3 Marked for trolling and being off-subject, which the subject is al-Sadr crying uncle in what may be a mix of external military pressure with Shia establishment acquiesce and a "counter-resistance" by disgruntled Iraqis in the form of the Thulfiqar Army that's been confirmed to have made war on the Mehdi Army ... |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2004-05-11 3:04:29 PM |
| #2 Is it just me, or does it seem like trolls like to drop their spoor on good news? Almost like they don't want anyone to pay attention to it. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-05-11 3:00:58 PM |
| #1 Bush is a genius. Duh! Post-Occupation Iraq, will be a pro-American government. Duh! The American social-political model is exportable to the Arab savages. Duh! The $300,000,000,000 spent by Bush on nominal counter-terror, has yield good work product. Duh! http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/nation/8623441.htm Please look in the mirror, and repeat the following with conviction: "The face that I see belongs to a fucking idiot." |
| Posted by: Man Bites Dog 2004-05-11 1:48:58 PM |