McClatchy: Mayor of Sadr City seriously wounded in attack

[Pirate Smile]

Mayor of Sadr City seriously wounded in attack

By Hannah Allam
McClatchy Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq - In what could be a setback to the smooth start of a new push to secure Baghdad, gunmen seriously wounded the mayor of the Sadr City neighborhood Thursday in an ambush that ended an eerily quiet period in the crowded Shiite Muslim militia stronghold.

Rahim al-Darraji, who was taken to a U.S. hospital after the attack, which killed his driver and an unidentified passenger in his car, has won praise as the negotiator who effected the peaceful entry of Americans troops into Sadr City, the base for sectarian-motivated death squads that are blamed for driving the capital's violence to record levels.

Government officials said the assassination attempt not only was a challenge to U.S.-led forces but also to Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric whose Mahdi Army militia controls the area. Al-Sadr has ordered his followers to refrain from violence and to cooperate with Iraqi security forces.

-snip-
Hours before news of the ambush broke, Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil, the commander of U.S. troops in Baghdad, had hailed al-Darraji for his efforts to help open a joint American-Iraqi security station in Sadr City. Fil described the mayor to a group of journalists in Baghdad as an ally who had helped persuade rebels not to confront U.S. and Iraqi troops.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16911884.htm

More:

"On Thursday:

-The U.S. military announced the deaths of six American service members. A soldier was killed Wednesday during combat operations in western Anbar province. A Marine stationed in Anbar died in an unspecified noncombat incident. Four soldiers were killed and two were wounded Thursday in back-to-back roadside bombings that targeted their convoy in eastern Baghdad. A bomb-disposal team disabled a third device before it exploded. "

[spag68]

1. I guess it didn't occur to them that having an american

general announce that this man was helping do this would be like signing his death warrant.

[Eugene]

2. AP: Attack on Sadr Official Creates Tension

Attack on Sadr Official Creates Tension

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
The Associated Press
Friday, March 16, 2007; 7:17 AM

BAGHDAD -- An attack against the top Sadr City official has created tension
in the ranks of Shiite militiamen with some blaming a faction unhappy about
cooperation with Americans, a local commander said Friday.

Gunmen opened fire on the convoy carrying Rahim al-Darraji Thursday in
eastern Baghdad, seriously wounding him and killing two of his bodyguards
on Thursday, police and a local official said.

Al-Darraji was the principal negotiator in talks with U.S. officials that led
to an agreement to pull fighters off the streets in Sadr City, a stronghold
of the feared Mahdi Army, and a local commander said suspicion fell on a
group of disaffected militiamen who are angry about the deal.

"This is a faction that enjoys some weight," the Mahdi Army commander
said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the
subject.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/16/AR2007031600576.html

Also: Hundreds of Shiites protest US base in Baghdad bastion - AFP

[Eugene]

3. Reuters: Iraq cleric slams occupiers, Shi'ite mayor shot

Iraq cleric slams occupiers, Shi'ite mayor shot
16 Mar 2007 16:28:30 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Claudia Parsons

BAGHDAD, March 16 (Reuters) - Radical Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr
urged his followers on Friday to oppose occupying troops, raising the pressure
on U.S.-backed Iraqi forces conducting a security crackdown in Baghdad.

In a possible setback for the crackdown, the mayor of Sadr City, a Shi'ite
militia stronghold in the capital, was wounded when gunmen opened fire on
his car on Thursday.

Sheikh Raheem al-Darruji has been a key figure in facilitating recent joint
operations in Sadr City, long a no-go area for U.S. forces and a bastion of
the Mehdi Army, a militia loyal to the fiercely anti-American Sadr.

A statement from Sadr that was read out at prayers in Sadr City on Friday
repeated his longheld opposition to the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq, and
appeared to respond to recent statements by U.S. military officials who have
said people in Sadr City were cooperating with them.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR657240.htm

[sabra]

4. Mayor of Baghdad Shia bastion wounded by gunmen

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?col=§ion=focusoniraq&xfile=data/focusoniraq/2007/March/focusoniraq_March116.xml

Mayor of Baghdad Shia bastion wounded by gunmen
(Reuters)

BAGHDAD - The mayor of Sadr City, a Shia militia stronghold in Baghdad, was wounded when gunmen opened fire on his car and a senior police officer was killed, Iraqi and US officials said on Friday.

Sheikh Raheem Al Darruji has been a key figure in facilitating a recent US and Iraqi security crackdown in Sadr City, long a no-go area for US forces and a bastion of the Mehdi Army, a militia loyal to radical cleric Moqtada Al Sadr.

An Iraqi police source said Darruji was driving in a private car with Colonel Mohammed Mutashar on Thursday afternoon in the Habibiya district of Sadr City when gunmen in another car opened fire, killing the policeman and wounding the mayor.

The driver of the car was also killed, a US military spokesman said, confirming the attack.

He said the mayor was treated at a US hospital and was in ”good condition” on Friday.