A four-day cease-fire born from an agreement reached between followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr and a government approved Shiite delegation on Friday began Sunday. The halt in violence would give residents a refuge from weeks of gun battles, rocket attacks and U.S. airstrikes between the U.S. and Iraqi forces against the Mahdi Army militia.
The battle began in late March in what seemed to be a politically motivated offensive by the Shiite Dawa party and Shiite Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq to wipe out the opposition Sadrist movement in the south and their stronghold of Sadr City. The Sadrists said they were victims and Maliki looked like an aggressor with an ill-equipped army.
But after weeks of fighting, Basra is showing signs of change for the better and popularity for the Sadr movement and their militia, the Mahdi Army, has waned in their strongholds.
Sheikh Salah al Obaidi, a top aide to Muqtada al Sadr, said he hopes the ceasefire will bring calm to the people of Sadr City. On the southern edge of the vast Shiite slum people were fleeing with little access to clean water and food and no refuge from the violence. There U.S. forces are holed up in abandoned buildings and the Iraqi Security Forces are battling the militia.
Rockets launched by Shiite militants, meant for American targets, were hitting civilian homes, roadside bombs were killing civilians, erratic shooting by the Iraqi Army was killing civilians and U.S. airstrikes meant for militants were in some cases killing civilians. Residents were stuck, terrified and angry at all three groups.
"This will help the situation be relieved and during these four days all the armed groups have to vanish," Obaidi said. "This agreement is a change for the normal relief of Sadr City to stop the suffering of people in general."
It sounds like it gives militants a good amount of time to hide their weapons as well.
Hi Leila,
Thanks again for keeping us informed about the conditions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the other 130 sovereign nations that have illegitimate occupying forces in them. We find it inconceivable and inexcusable that so many are willing to support and participate in these occupations. Even more alarming is the fact that, if the situation were reversed, those same supporters would be horrified.Why do these human beings support what amounts to murder squads sent around the globe to establish and maintain the military-industrial complex?
When will we learn?
Will the criminal elite in the U.S. government demand that foreign mercenaries under the command of the U.N. occupy America as she falls, once again, into civil war?
Will the criminal elite be held responsible for the insidious theft of a fiat currency that stands on the brink of extinction?
Will the American people wake up to the bondage they have willingly placed themselves in by being subservient to corporate fictions made all-powerful by the state under color of law?
Will they finally become students and advocates of the Non-Aggression Principle as Individual Sovereign Human Beings with Basic Inherent Inalienable Irrevocable Individual Human Rights?
Will they recognize, understand, and extend the right to be left alone to each and every other human being on the planet?Will they come to the correct conclusion that what they sew, so shall they reap?
Will they understand the aggression/force/fraud of the mainstream media, in concert with the Council on Foreign Relations, to attempt to deny these truths from being shared by 2008 Presidential Candidate Ron Paul?
Will they avert disaster by becoming students and advocates of the Non-Aggression Principle like Gandhi, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther, and others?
Will they read "The Revolution, A Manifesto" by Ten Term Congressman, Texas OBGYN Doctor, and 2008 Presidential Candidate Ron Paul?
Posted by: Ron Paul | May 13, 2008 at 08:08 AM
OMG Ron Paul---Shut Up!
Posted by: valley girl | May 15, 2008 at 12:01 AM
There are two sheiks that have caugth my attention in Iraq recently: al-Sadr and al-Lami. Both are Shiites, but what a difference! Al-Sadr has been promoting strife and hate for five years. Sheik al-Lami has made a heroic attempt to reconcile the Shiites and the Sunnis in Baghdad. Two sheiks, and yet the difference between them is staggering. Al-Lami, even though a Moslem, heeds the advise of Jesus that "blessed are the peacemakers." He risks his life repeatedly walking into a Sunni shrine. Al-Sadr erroneously interprets the Quran as an endorsement of hate! He hides in Iran! I applaude sheik al-Lami for his courage and I hope that his candidacy is advanced for presidency in Iraq's oncoming elections!
Posted by: Bohdan Szejner, Rome, Italy | May 20, 2008 at 04:51 AM