Iraq: Al-Sadr Forms Shadow Government in Baghdad Stronghold

[sabra]

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.276937479&par=0

IRAQ: AL-SADR FORMS SHADOW GOVERNMENT IN BAGHDAD STRONGHOLD

Erbil, 16 March (AKI) - A Kurdish source in Baghdad has told a Kurdish national daily that the Mahdi Army, the militia of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, " has set up a shadow government in Sadr City in the centre of Baghdad". The source told the Aso daily: "this group was tasked with carrying out the affairs of the city in the place of the Iraqi government and institutions." The source explained that the Mahdi Army, accused of kidnappings and sectarian killings, has transformed the rundown Sadr city into an independent district with its security forces and its own courts which do not only judge local residents but also Shiites from other areas of the capital.

The source alleged that "the health and transport ministers, which both are headed by minsiters from the Sadr faction, have been completely monopolised by followers of this movement" adding that "in Sadr City the police forces, for example the local police, take their orders from Moqtada al-Sadr and not from the interior ministry."

The Cultural Network of Iraq, an internet site which publishes news on the Shiite community, has said that "the peoples courts in Sadr City have condemned to death terrorists who carried out massacres in the city."

The former government of Iyad Allawi and the movement of al-Sadr,. who has headed two lengthly revolts against the US-led coalition forces, clashed over these courts, which have special police forces and prisons. When the authorities in Baghdad tried to close them down and disband the militias they failed.

[Demit]

1. Sounds like al-Sadr is getting stronger. A shadow gov't the authorities

can't control? Yikes.

[Critters2]

2. What is that smell?

Could it be civil war?

[IsItJustMe]

3. AL-SADR has been the man to be reckoned with for quit a while in his area

of control (Sadr City). The troops have left him alone.

[Tempest]

4. If true, it's now officially a civil war n/t

[tatertop]

5. I think he is preparing to wage war on the US

What better time than when the US invades Iran?

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

6. He should have done it from an undisclosed location. n/t

[leftchick]

7. he has every right to

and I can't say I blame him. Look at the puppets in the GZ! They have done nothing but listened to their US masters and accept their security forces. Now to an Iraqi viewing this, who the hell would they want representing them? His outreach to Sunnis has also been unique.

[bemildred]

8. This is drool.

It's been this way for quite a while, in most of Iraq, because the stooge government in the Green Zone has not the means to wipe its own ass without permission.

[HereSince1628]

10. Yes and no...it's been like this for a while, but setting up a rival gov.

is really an indication that 2 groups claim civil authority. When such competiting governments take it to the street with weapons, THAT cannot be seen as anything BUT a civil war.

[bemildred]

11. Oh, I'm not saying there is no civil confict,

I'm not disagreeing with anything you say,
I'm just saying its been that way for a couple years now;
you could get fuzzy about exactly when,
but there has never been a time since we invaded in Gulf War
I that there was a legitimate government in charge of the
whole country. The main effect of the second invasion is to
further that disintegration, and there is no surprise in the
fact that local elites will step in when the central government
is incompetent. There are some who think that was the purpose of
Gulf War II, but I still think they intended to control the place,
not just demolish it.

[wookie294]

9. funny

Just as I was reading this article, I was watching Brit Hume say the Baghdad government is getting stronger and doing much better. LOL