AFP: Sadr group ends Iraq government boycott

[Eugene]

Sadr group ends Iraq government boycott

12 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The political group of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr
has ended its nearly two-month boycott of the Iraqi government, an MP from the
cleric's parliamentary bloc has told AFP.

"We are rejoining the political process," Saleh Hassan Issa al-Igaili said Sunday.

The group, which has 32 MPs in
Iraq's 275-member parliament, had suspended its participation in the national
assembly since November 29.

Igaili said the group decided to end the boycott after receiving a pledge from the
parliament to establish a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070121/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpoliticsshiitesadr_070121093801

[wakeme2008]

1. LOL the Iraqi govt will tell Bush when to leave ....

What are these folks smoking..... :rofl:

[Kagemusha]

2. It's a tactical move.

Trying to make the eventual US surge against Sadr look unreasonable.

[ohio2007]

11. They are telling sunni's to leave

Shias order Palestinians to leave Iraq or 'prepare to die'

Palestinians living in Iraq have been warned that they will be killed by Shia militias unless they leave the country immediately.

Iraqi police say the immigrants, who are mostly Sunni Muslims, are the target of a backlash by hardline Shias, including members of the Mehdi Army led by the Shia preacher Moqtada al-Sadr.

More than 600 Palestinians are believed to have died at the hands of Shia militias since the war began in 2003, including at least 300 from the Baladiat area of Baghdad. Many were tortured with electric drills before they died.

<snip>

"We are sure that all the Palestinians in Iraq are involved in killing the Shia people and they have to pay the price now," he said. "They lived off our blood under Saddam. We were hungry with no food and they were comfortable with full bellies. They should leave now, or they will have to pay."


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/21/wirq121.xml

Heres to the new boss, same as the old boss

[xchrom]

3. sadr's version of ''keeping his enemies closer''.

[Moby Grape]

4. what a wimp

in times past,
al-Sadr would be murdered
by his angry followers

is he in protective custody?

[ohio2007]

9. He told his "army" to melt away,hide,don't put on your black outfits

until the surge/seige ends sometime this summer. I suppose he can claim victory over infidels ect.


Militia commanders discuss ways to weather U.S. campaign
By Nidhal al-Laithi

Its leader, Moqtada al-Sadr, aware of U.S. determination to curtail the power of his militias, is said to have ordered his men not hide their weapons and refrain from fighting once the Americans launch their campaign in earnest.

<snip>

Moqtada, analysts say, is keen to remain a force to reckon with following the withdrawal of U.S. troops which he believes could take place at the end of the year.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-01-15\kurd.htm

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

6. Shiite cleric al-Sadr's political bloc ends boycott (back in the Iraq Parliament)

11:28 a.m. EST, January 21, 2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Ending a two-month boycott, the powerful political movement of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will return to Iraq's parliament, the parliamentary speaker announced Sunday.

Politicians backing al-Sadr withdrew participation in Iraqi politics in a protest over Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's November meeting with President Bush in Jordan.

The al-Sadr bloc controls six government ministries and holds 30 of the 235 seats in parliament. (Watch announcement that boycott is ending )

At a joint news conference with members of the al-Sadr bloc, parliamentary speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said the boycott ended after negotiations with parliament members who said they would consider the group's demands -- which al-Mashhadani called "national demands."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/01/21/Iraq.main/index.html

MKJ

[rodeodance]

7. Those demands include setting a timetable for withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition troops from Iraq.

.....Those demands include setting a timetable for withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition troops from Iraq.

Al-Mashhadani said the Iraqi parliament will assign three of its committees to work on a plan to present to parliament members.

U.S. commanders blame the Mehdi Army, a militia loyal to al-Sadr, for much of the sectarian violence that has wracked Baghdad and other cities over the past year.

The Iraqi government has found it difficult to rein in al-Sadr's fighters, since his political backing helped put al-Maliki into office.

But a newly implemented Baghdad security plan spearheaded by al-Maliki has aimed at cracking down both on Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents.

[54anickel]

8. Sunni-Shiite talks begin with spat over Iran, Iraq

http://www.ncr-iran.org/content/view/2789/71/

Agence France Presse, DOHA, January 20 - A conference on inter-Islamic dialogue got off to a heated start in Doha on Saturday with a top Sunni cleric attacking Shiites and Iran over the continuing sectarian violence in war-torn Iraq.

snip>

The Egyptian cleric, who also holds Qatari nationality, condemned what he described as "attempts to covert (Sunnis) into Shiism" in countries that are predominantly Sunni.

"It is not permissible for a sect to try to spread in a country that is dominated by the other sect," he said.

"What benefit do you get if you enter a Sunni country like Egypt, Sudan, Morocco or Algeria... and try to convert people into the Shiite sect?" he asked.

"You may attract a hundred or two, but you will be sowing sedition in the country and the people there will hate and curse you," he added, citing talks he held with leading Iranian scholar Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Taskhiri.

But Taskhiri, who was also present at the opening session, blamed the escalating tension between Sunnis and Shiites on the "real enemy" of both, an allusion to Israel and the United States.

"There is a cunning plot to turn Muslims away from their real enemy to an illusive one... the Islamic Republic of Iran," said Taskhiri, who heads Iran's World Forum for Enhancing Relations Among Islamic Schools of Thought.

more...


OIC plans ‘peace mission’ to Iraq
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=January2007&file=Local_News2007012114832.xml

DOHA • The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) will soon send a delegation to Iraq seeking a solution to the worsening sectarian conflicts between Sunnis and Shi’ites in the country.

This was disclosed by Dr Akmeleddin Ihsanoghlu, OIC secretary-general, when speaking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of the Doha Conference for Dialogue of Islamic Schools of Thought which opened at the Doha Sheraton yesterday.

He said OIC representatives had earlier met with Iraqi authorities and sought their support to end the sectarian strife. “We have requested them to implement the Makkah Declaration, approved by OIC, which seeks a solution to the crisis. Another delegation from OIC will soon visit Iraq to revive the efforts," he said.

Earlier, addressing the opening session of the conference, Akmeleddin said the conflict in Iraq had assumed dangerous proportions and can spill over to other countries like Lebanon and Palestine.

“What we are seeing is a polarisation on sectarian basis. This conflict is political though it has got a religious basis," he noted.

more...

[ohio2007]

10. From your link; Cold War mentality in the ME

Iran has influence in Iraq. It can stop this sedition and put out a fire that could destroy everything," he said in a clear criticism of Tehran over its role in Iraq.

The Egyptian cleric, who also holds Qatari nationality, condemned what he described as "attempts to covert (Sunnis) into Shiism" in countries that are predominantly Sunni.

"It is not permissible for a sect to try to spread in a country that is dominated by the other sect," he said.

http://www.ncr-iran.org/content/view/2789/71
If that doesn't say bi-polar 3rd world world mentality then people refuse to accept what is written bewteen the lines