(KUNA) -- Iraqi Vice-President Tareq Al-Hashimi opposed on Tuesday an order by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to lift a blockade around the flashpoint Baghdad suburb of Sadr city. He said the move by Maliki was unilateral because he should have consulted first the political national security council, adding that this order could spell an end to a lull in the sectarian death squad violence. "The prime minister, in his capacity as commander in chief of the armed forces, has decided to lift the blockade of the access roads to Sadr City and other areas of Baghdad," a statement from Maliki's office said earlier.Maliki noted that the checkpoints should be lifted by 5:00 pm (1400 GMT), but added that it could be reimposed after dark during Baghdad's nightly curfew or in the event of specific operations to capture "terrorists".
For the past week Iraqi and American forces have been manning a cordon around the eastern suburb as part of the hunt for a kidnapped US soldier, causing long traffic queues and angering local residents. Inhabitants in Sadr City decided to protest after suspected insurgents managed to get into the city yesterday despite the American security operation to set off a bomb attack that killed 26 civilians and wounded many more. The Iraqi special forces backed by US military advisers carried out a raid into Sadr City today and arrested three suspects.
"The purpose of the mission was to search for the missing US soldier and to capture the leadership of a kidnapping cell reported to have knowledge of the soldier's location," the US military said in a statement. An American soldier of Iraqi descent was abducted on October 23 after he slipped out of Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone in order to visit his secret Iraqi wife at the home of relatives in the city. The kidnap triggered a rescue operation by thousands of US infantry around Sadr City, home to several thousand gunmen from Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
Iraqi and US forces have also launched raids inside the district, most recently today morning, when they arrested three suspects. But the US forces began lifting the blockade shortly before Maliki's 5.00 pm deadline, triggering a triumphant response from local youths who waved banners from racing trucks and mopeds in an impromptu victory rally. Anger at traffic jams and lost business had been growing inside Sadr City. Today militants loyal to cleric al-Sadr ordered a general strike, shutting down shops, offices and schools.