Iraq PM urges calm, condemns attack on Sadr group

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC472851.htm

Iraq PM urges calm, condemns attack on Sadr group

BAGHDAD, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari appealed for calm in a late-night televised address and condemned an attack on a rival Shi'ite group that sparked clashes in the holy city of Najaf and in Baghdad.

Speaking with unaccustomed urgency and force, Jaafari said violence against the Najaf office of radical cleric Moqtada al- Sadr was not acceptable.

"Peace must reign. This language of violence cannot be permitted in the new Iraq," he said in the broadcast shortly after midnight, on Thursday.

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1. He better appeal for "calm".

If Muqtada walks out and joins the Sunni, he's going to have his hands full with a full scale civil war.

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2. Al-Sadr allies to boycott gov't duties

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/world/12464674.htm

Al-Sadr allies to boycott gov't duties

Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Cabinet minister and 21 lawmakers allied with radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will boycott their official duties to protest an attack Wednesday on their leader's office in Najaf, a key supporter said.

The move could seriously complicate efforts to convene parliament to vote on a new constitution and raises fears of internal conflicts among the Shiites at a time when Sunni Arabs are outraged over the new draft constitution.

The statement by Fattah al-Sheik was confirmed by Transport Minister Salam al-Maliki, who said he had "suspended" his membership in the Cabinet to protest the burning of al-Sadr's office in Najaf.

The clashes broke out in Najaf between supporters and opponents of al-Sadr, who led two uprisings against U.S. forces in central and southern Iraq last year.

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3. That ought to do it.

Al Sadr is NOT happy with all the federalism shit anyway, and I would not be surprised if he stays out unless that changes. And if he stays out with his minions, that leaves the "government" exactly nowhere at all.

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4. And I don't expect he's been knitting doilies for the last year. nt

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5. so what's your prediction? it's really one HUGH mess! :-)

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6. I predict a really HUGE mess.

Predicting in these situations is a mugs game, but a much hotter guerilla war, with even more players would seem like the way to bet.

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11. I was just thinking...

Put together, the words freeps have trouble spelling...well, in my mind, they put a name to all freepers. May I introduce the typical freep...Hugh Moran. If I had artistic abilities, which I don't, I'd try to do a drawing of him.

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7. Violence erupts in Iraq holy city, US to boost troop levels

BAGHDAD (AFP) - New violence erupted in Iraq as clashes between supporters of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr and locals in the holy city of Najaf left five dead, while the United States said it would send 1,500 more troops to help during planned Iraqi elections.

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Sadr's Mehdi militia took control of Baghdad's Shiite district of Sadr City as well as three offices of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari's Dawa party, a source in the interior ministry said.

He said the Mehdi militia was being deployed in other Shiite neighbourhoods in Baghdad, the Al-Amel region to the southeast and in the southern city of Nasiriyah.

"Iraqi security forces have been told not to intervene," the official told AFP.

Baku Today

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8. 5 killed as Iraqi rival groups clash

An indeterminate number of people were earlier reported wounded in Najaf when traders in the old town, which houses the revered Imam Ali shrine, demonstrated against members of Sadr’s group who were attempting to reopen their local office.
The office was closed in 2004 following a bloody rebellion led by Sadr against US forces.

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Unconfirmed reports also said that a series of explosions rocked Baghdad’s Sadr city. Interior Minister Bayan Baker Solagh confirmed the Najaf clashes and said that demonstrators “burnt down the office of Sadr’s group”. “There was a clash between demonstrators... and defenders of the office,” Solagh told the state-owned Iraqia television. He said that security forces intervened to end the clashes.

http://www.timesofoman.com/newsdetails.asp?newsid=19019&pn=local

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9. Iraq Shi'ite militias fight as splits emerge

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Fighting broke out in Baghdad and the holy city of Najaf late on Wednesday between rival Shi'ite militias, kindling fears of a renewed uprising by radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr against the U.S.-backed government.

Hours after a bloody show of force by Sunni insurgents on the streets of Baghdad, it raised the prospect of Iraqis across the sectarian divide opposing the constitution the Shi'ite-led government is expected to force through parliament on Thursday.

At least eight people were killed and dozens wounded, health officials said, in street battles in Najaf involving pro- government fighters and supporters of Sadr, who has joined Sunni Arab leaders in denouncing the constitution as divisive.

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A spokesman for Sadr warned of a "general call to arms" if rival groups did not apologise for what he called an attack on Sadr's office in Najaf. His Mehdi Army was banned after U.S. troops crushed two uprisings a year ago, but it has not disarmed.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&summit=&storyid=2005-08-24T211712Z_01_EIC252492_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ.xml

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10. Iraq PM urges calm, condemns attack on Sadr group

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC472851.htm

BAGHDAD, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari appealed for calm in a late-night televised address and condemned an attack on a rival Shi'ite group that sparked clashes in the holy city of Najaf and in Baghdad.

Speaking with unaccustomed urgency and force, Jaafari said violence against the Najaf office of radical cleric Moqtada al- Sadr was not acceptable.