Muqtada Al-Sadr Aide Arrested in Baghdad

[kevinmc]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces arrested a top aide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday in Baghdad, his office said.

Sheik Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji, al-Sadr's media director in Baghdad, was captured during a 2 a.m. raid on a mosque in the eastern neighborhood of Baladiyat, an official in al-Sadr's office said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

The U.S. military said special Iraqi army forces operating with coalition advisers captured a high-level, illegal armed group leader in Baladiyat, but it did not identify the detainee. It said two other suspects were detained by Iraqi forces for further questioning.

The raid comes as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has pledged to crack down on Shiite militias as well as Sunni insurgents in a planned security operation to quell the sectarian violence in Baghdad amid concerns that his reluctance to confront the Mahdi Army of his political backer al-Sadr led to the failure of two previous crackdowns.

http://my.earthlink.net/article/int?guid=20070118/45b05050_3ca6_1552620070119-1620665309

[napi21]

1. Hmmm, that doesnt sound like a good thing to me.

Like him or hate him, he sure has a lot of supporters in Iraq.

[Roon]

2. Aide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr arrested in Baghdad

Aide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr arrested in Baghdad.
Breaking on http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

[tularetom]

3. Is this gonna be like the 300 No. 2 men in al qaeda

we've captured already. It's probably just a ploy by the Sadr controlled government to make us think they're actually doing something.

[ClintonTyree]

9. That was my first thought......

after Bush's "get tough on the Iraqis" speech there needed to be a token example of bipartisan enforcement, like Maliki is REALLY going to clean up Baghdad and come down hard on both factions. :eyes: My guess is al_Sadr's front man was dragged in the front door in chains and then whisked out the back door to a waiting Limo for his return trip home. Maliki is no fool, he's not going to bite the hand that keeps him in power. Without al-Sadr's protection Maliki would be nothing more than a fine, red mist covering a bombed out car. I'm sure this symbolic gesture was worked out beforehand between Maliki and al-Sadr. I expect no honest attempt by Maliki to round up and punish both sides of the Iraqi civil war on an equal basis. Presumably he likes breathing to much to do that.

[Ian David]

4. We got another number two guy? n/t

[Little Wing]

5. It's okay. Mission Accomplished. American law is out the window

Hearsay is proof. Osama wins.

[cal04]

6. Muqtada Al-Sadr Aide Arrested in Baghdad

- U.S. and Iraqi forces arrested a top aide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday in Baghdad, an official in his office said.

Sheik Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji, al-Sadr's media director in Baghdad, was captured in the eastern neighborhood of Baladiyat, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

The U.S. military said special Iraqi army forces captured a high-level, illegal armed group leader during a raid in eastern Baghdad, but it did not identify the detainee.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6356384,00.html

[GreenZoneLT]

8. Hmm, this should be interesting.

Is the guy really a death-squad leader, and will Maliki lobby to get him released?

Or is he just a pro-Sadr propagandist, and Maliki actually wants him locked up for that? The Iraqi government has shut down offices of two major pan-Arab satellite news outlets and one Iraqi pro-Sunni one in recent months, for supposedly inciting violence. Al Arabiya and Al Sharqiya have just shrugged it off and kept reporting, but Al Zawraa has turned into 24/7 propaganda videos (mostly U.S. soldiers getting killed, over and over) and anti-government slogans.

The Maliki government isn't exactly free-press-friendly. Although, the charges of inciting violence have some merit to them, too; you can't be a neutral reporter unless you do it from a fortified compound the way the western media does. If an Iraqi reporter is alive, it probably means they're reporting the story from one side or the other; press freedom has pretty much been an academic concept since 2004.

[David__77]

7. What will Sistani say?

Will he totally capitulate to the occupation or will he finally after all have a scrap of national dignity?

[maddezmom]

10. it was reported he backs the crackdown

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2682605

[ShortnFiery]

11. Oh boy, another Number TWO guy! The trend continues. n/t

[Wetzelbill]

12. he slipped on a banana peel

I know it!

[rodeodance]

13. wonder if we will get a blow by blow account of every 'good' thing

that happens now that the 'surge' in on----and it is ON>

[Eugene]

14. Guardian: Sadr fears for life in security crackdown

1pm
Sadr fears for life in security crackdown

Mark Oliver and agencies
Friday January 19, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

Moqtada al-Sadr has moved his family to a secure location because of fears he will
become the target of a security sweep of Baghdad, it was reported today.

News of the radical cleric's decision came as the US military said it had detained
a suspected death squad leader.

Aides to Mr Sadr described the arrest of the man, named as Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji,
as a "provocation", saying he was a spokesman for their movement.

"We are angry," Abdul-Mehdi al-Matiri told Reuters. "This is a kind of revenge.
Sheikh Darraji deals with the media. He is not a military man."

-snip-

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1994458,00.html