Iraqi PM: 400 Shiite fighters detained

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Apparently seeking to calm fears that he will not go after militia gunmen loyal to one of his key political backers, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said 400 fighters from the Mahdi Army had been arrested over the past several weeks.

In Baghdad on Thursday, bombers and gunmen killed at least 19 more people in a series of attacks in the pre-noon hours as the capital faces a surge in violence ahead of a planned U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown.

It was the first time the Shiite prime minister has specifically detailed any arrests of figures from the Mahdi Army militia that is loyal to his key backer, the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Many of the militiamen are believed responsible for a majority of the sectarian violence in Baghdad over the past year.

Yassin Majid, a senior al-Maliki adviser, said reports that dozens of senior militia leaders had been detained were incorrect.

A Baghdad Mahdi Army commander, meanwhile, said U.S. and Iraqi troops launched a major campaign Tuesday in Um al-Maalef, a Shiite neighborhood in south Baghdad.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[acmavm]

1. They arrest the 'fighters' but not the militia 'leaders'?

[lapfog_1]

2. Recent recruits? Like within the last week or so?

That would be my guess. House arrest and slap on the wrist.

[ohio2007]

3. the arrests started weeks ago. I say they got the wrong 'fighters'

They'll have to let them go. seems the pers are still at large

[majorjohn]

4. Arrested or not...

the Mahdi Army aren't the ones blowing themselves up in the streets on a daily basis; I say go after the groups that are sending out suicide bombers.

[mazzarro]

5. Just hold on for a while

I'll bet this story will change in a week or two and it will be revealed that no such damn action was taken after all. It has become very much the way things operate there that fantastic/wishful news come out at the most opportuned moment.

[bemildred]

6. Two week training camp for new recruits. nt

[Tempest]

7. I call BULLSHIT!

If there were 400 of al-Sadr's militia members arrested, there would have been a statement of some kind from al-Sadr himself.

al-Maliki is learning well from Bush. Lie and don't worry about the truth.

[LynnTheDem]

8. OMG the Iraqi government is OPPRESSING the little SHIA!!!

We need to INVADE and LIBERATE the Shia!!!

JFC.