| Nice sloppy wet kiss for Tater and the Tots from The Times. They're all scary 'n' fearsome -n- brave, see? Ferocious warriors to a man, is the Mahdi Army. Anyone with brains could see they're practically invincible and it would be folly to take them on. |
The thousands-strong militia and a political power base of 32 seats in Parliament have made Hojatoleslam al-Sadr's militant Shia movement the strongest in Iraq. The group is blamed for many death squad killings, but has such grassroots appeal that even the Shia premier cancelled plans to clear Sadr City, its Baghdad stronghold.
Accompanied by The Times, Abu Maha cruises past Iraqi soldiers as he plans an attack in Ghazaliyah, a mixed neighbourhood that has been a battleground for months. Ghazaliyah abuts Shula to the north, another enclave of the al-Mahdi Army, and Abu Maha is looking to extend his militia's influence. He has been watching Sunnis who fled to the neighbourhood from another part of western Baghdad, convinced that they are in league with the Sunni al-Qaeda terrorists. He says that his men will target them — just business as usual for the militant who has no qualms about shedding blood in his mission to protect the Shia.
