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| Iraq-Jordan | ||
| Court Issues Warrant For Sadr... | ||
| 2004-04-05 | ||
| ...FNC is running a briefing right now from Baghdad where they just announced that the Good Mullah is now wanted on an arrest warrant signed by an Iraqi judge. Here we go... Mike More, from Associated Press: An Iraqi judge has issued a murder arrest warrant for a radical Shiite Muslim cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, for the slaying of another Shiite leader shortly after the U.S.-led invasion of the country. Coalition spokesman Dan Senor announced the warrant but would not say when al-Sadr would be detained. "There'll be no advance warning," he said. The announcement of the warrant came a day after violent clashes between militiamen loyal to al-Sadr that killed 52 Iraqis, eight U.S. soldiers and a Salvadoran soldier — some of the worst gunbattles since the ouster of Saddam Hussein. Since the violence, al-Sadr has been holed up in a mosque in the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad, surrounded by armed supporters.
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| Posted by:Mike Kozlowski |
| #8 If Bush and company were even half as evil as the Chomsky types claim we would have killed Sadr months ago. |
| Posted by: ruprecht 2004-04-05 7:47:28 PM |
| #7 Looks like we've given him enough rope, Zeyad at Healing Iraq wants him gone: Muqty is playing on his old dirty tricks again, only this time he has gone too far. Following last Friday's prayer sermon, when he announced that he would be a 'striking hand' in Iraq for Hizbollah and Hamas whenever they need, and issued a veiled warning to Kurds to stop assisting the occupiers, his followers in Kufa ran amok killing an Iraqi IP colonel and after that attacked Salvadorian and Spanish troops. Spanish forces retorted by arresting Sayyid Mustafa Al-Ya'qubi, an aide of Muqtada and head of Sadr's office in Najaf. Meanwhile, in a display of power and defiance, Al-Sadr organised a military parade on the streets of Al-Thawra district (Sadr city), a Shi'ite stronghold, in Baghdad on Saturday where thousands of Jaish Al-Mahdi (Al-Mahdi army) militiamen in black marched along with mullahs to the horror of Iraqis who watched on tv, bringing back nightmares of Fedayeen parades under Saddam. American and Israeli flags were burnt at the parade, and large posters of Muqtada and his father Mohammed Sadiq Al-Sadr (assasinated by Mukhabarat in 1999) were carried by the demonstrators. One of the mullahs at the parade stated that "this is to show our power to the world. This army is a striking force and a time bomb that can go off any moment at the time and place our leader deems necessary". Later that day, Sadr followers cut off roads leading to the entrance of the Convention center near the Green Zone, set fire in tires, and prevented vehicles from crossing over Jumhuriya bridge. While they were at it, they attacked Video CD stores and gaming shops in Bab Al-Sharji accusing them of selling porn movies. Since Al-Sadr's weekly newspaper Al-Hawza was closed about a week ago for inciting violence against the coalition, there have been daily demonstrations near the Green Zone by Sadr supporters demanding re-opening the paper and against the national reconciliation conferences initiated by Kurdish leader Mas'ud Barzani, current head of the GC. I passed through one such demonstration last Wednesday with Omar and AYS at Tahrir square and it looked dangerous, they were armed with pistols and AK-47's. Anyway, last thing we heard was that Muqtada Al-Sadr's residence in Najaf was surrounded by coalition troops and that his followers clashed with Spanish troops in Kufa, 21 of them killed and 120 wounded. IP stations in Kufa were attacked, and there was news of fighting in Sadun street and Al-Thawra in Baghdad. Last word from Muqty was that he asked his followers to stop demonstrating and to resort to 'other methods' since demonstrations aren't working. Al-Jazeera is having difficulties concealing their excitement and they have already coined this as the 'start of the Shia resistance in Iraq'. Iraqis know very well who those 'pious' people are. They are gangsters, rapists, murderers, thieves, kidnappers, looters, and criminals. They are only using religion as cover. I can't even dream of what would happen if those people were left to make trouble on our streets that way without punishment. I believe that it's now time for Al-Sadr to experience a very bad accident soon. We will be sorry for him I assure you, "Oh poor fellow, what a terrible misfortune, what a great loss" we would say to each other knowingly. It's scenes like these that make me sometimes wonder to myself if Saddam wasn't justified in assassinating all those clerics. Get that new Mukhabarat working. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-04-05 12:39:41 PM |
| #6 Exactly doc. I can't believe we let it get this far. I was 50/50 on arresting Sistani for his actions... if I was in charge Sadr would have been plant food the first time he opened his mouth. At least we seem to be cracking down now... it's never to late but it will be more costly now in terms of goodwill than it would have been in the begining. |
| Posted by: Damn_Proud_American 2004-04-05 12:10:26 PM |
| #5 Looks like we're trying to send the message that being a radical, eye-rolling, spittle-emitting Islamic cleric can be dangerous to your health. It's about time! |
| Posted by: The Doctor 2004-04-05 12:00:54 PM |
| #4 Since the violence, al-Sadr has been holed up in a mosque in the city of Kufa I suppose he thinks we wouldn't dare violate a mosque.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-04-05 12:00:10 PM |
| #3 Looks like we crossed each other on the update, Steve... |
| Posted by: Fred 2004-04-05 11:55:46 AM |
| #2 BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Iraqi judge has issued a murder arrest warrant for a radical Shiite Muslim cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, for the slaying of another Shiite leader shortly after the U.S.-led invasion of the country, coalition officials said Monday. Coalition spokesman Dan Senor announced the warrant but would not say when al-Sadr would be detained. "There'll be no advance warning," he said. Since the violence, al-Sadr has been holed up in a mosque in the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad, surrounded by armed supporters. Senor said the arrest warrant had been issued several months ago. He refused to say why al-Sadr had not been arrested earlier. Al-Sadr is accused in the slaying of Abdel-Majid al-Khoei, a rival Shiite cleric who was stabbed to death by a mob at a Shiite shrine in the city of Najaf in April. A total of 25 arrest warrants have been issued in the case, and 13 suspects have been taken into custody. Sunday's violence in Baghdad and other cities was sparked by the arrest last week of Mustafa al-Yacoubi, a senior aide to al-Sadr, on one of the warrants. Sweet, charged with killing another holy man. I remember that killing, it smelled of fine ripe fish at the time. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-04-05 11:47:54 AM |
| #1 Hope his followers have rested their peepers. The ensuing eye-rolling is going to cause severe strain. |
| Posted by: BH 2004-04-05 11:33:35 AM |