U.S. tracking Iraqi cleric Sadr, sees cooperation

[maddezmom]

U.S. tracking Iraqi cleric Sadr, sees cooperation
14 Mar 2007 16:32:28 GMT
BAGGHDAD, March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. forces are keeping a close track on Moqtada al Sadr and they believe he is in Iran, a U.S. general said on Wednesday, but he declined to say whether the anti-American Shi'ite cleric was a wanted man.

Just a few months ago, Washington called Sadr's Mehdi Army militia the greatest threat to security in Iraq. The radical young cleric headed uprisings against U.S. forces twice in 2004, but his political movement is now an important party in the government of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

"As of 24 hours ago he (Sadr) was not here in Iraq. All indications are that he is still in Iran," said Major General William Caldwell, chief spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq.

Asked at a news conference in Baghdad why U.S. forces were tracking Sadr if they were not hunting him, Caldwell declined to say if he was a wanted man or not.

"Obviously he's a very significant part of this entire political process," Caldwell said. "We are in fact tracking his whereabouts, we do stay concerned. But ... we're very encouraged by what we're seeing on the ground right now in Sadr City."

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