09 April 2011
Baghdad - Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has threatened to mobilize the military wing of his movement that fought the US forces following the 2003 US-led war on Iraq if the US forces stay in Iraq after 2011.
Several hundred of supporters of the Sadrist Current in Baghdad protested on Saturday in coincidence with the eighth anniversary of the entry of U.S. troops to Iraq.
Sadr's statement came as his official spokesman Salah al-Obeidi Khalid al-Mullah was addressing a rally of protesters in Baghdad who called for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq. According to an agreement between the US and Iraq, the US forces are expected to withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2011."
"If the US presence continued in Iraq, then Mahdi army will be mobilized to fight the occupation," Obeidi added.
Muqtada al-Sadr decided yesterday (Friday) to extend the freeze of the Mahdi Army for another six months.
Mahdi Army, the cleric's militia wing, engaged in bloody fights with the US forces and the Iraqi army in 2004 after the leader's newspaper ban and attempts to arrest him. Sadr froze the Mahdi Army in 2007 to engage in the political process.
While the leader in the Current Hazim al-Araji called in the second speech presented on behalf of al-Sadr all believers for an opened peaceful protest and to register their names at the offices of Martyr Sadr against the presence of all occupation forces.
Sadr did not specify the place or time of the protest but he asked the supporters to head to Najaf city after the completion of the demonstration to visit the tomb of the religious authority Mouhammed Baqir al-Sadr.
The religious authority, Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr, the uncle of the leader of Sadrist Current Muqtada al-Sadr, founded the Islamic Dawa Party in 1957 and was executed in Iraq in 1980 along with his sister, for their opposition to the policy of the regime of Saddam Hussein.
While the
representative of Sadr, cleric Khalid al-Mullah called during the demonstration the Iraqi Sunni and Shia to stand against the schemes of the occupier and its presence in Iraq, adding that the unity of the Iraqis foiled all the objectives of the occupier which has worked to spread sectarianism among them.
The correspondent of AKnews stated that the crowds began to go to the holy city of Najaf in response to Sadr's call to visit the grave of his uncle Baqir al-Sadr.
"Not withdrawing from Iraq would mean two things, first; the escalation of military action and the annulment of a freeze on the Mahdi Army," the representative told the rally of protesters on behalf of Sadr, and aired live by the semi-official al-Iraqiya TV broadcaster.
"And the second is an increase in peaceful and popular resistance through rallies and protests in Iraq." he said.
The rally in Baghdad came in response to a call by the cleric to demonstrate against the US presence in Iraq.
Sadr has been calling on Iraqis to demonstrates against the US forces in Iraq since the early days of the US-led war on Iraq on the anniversary of the fall of the former regime, April 9.
Muqtada al-Sadr returned to Iraq earlier this year after heading to Iran in 2007 for being accused, along with some of his close followers, of assassinating the son of the religious authority, Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei, Abdul Majid al-Khoei head of al-Khoei Foundation in London on the tenth of April 2003 inside the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf.
Some believe that the Sadrists supported Maliki's nomination to head the government after the two sides had a deal under which Maliki vowed to give the Sadrists high governmental positions and release their prisoners.
Baghdad - Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has threatened to mobilize the military wing of his movement that fought the US forces following the 2003 US-led war on Iraq if the US forces stay in Iraq after 2011.
Several hundred of supporters of the Sadrist Current in Baghdad protested on Saturday in coincidence with the eighth anniversary of the entry of U.S. troops to Iraq.
Sadr's statement came as his official spokesman Salah al-Obeidi Khalid al-Mullah was addressing a rally of protesters in Baghdad who called for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq. According to an agreement between the US and Iraq, the US forces are expected to withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2011."
"If the US presence continued in Iraq, then Mahdi army will be mobilized to fight the occupation," Obeidi added.
Muqtada al-Sadr decided yesterday (Friday) to extend the freeze of the Mahdi Army for another six months.
Mahdi Army, the cleric's militia wing, engaged in bloody fights with the US forces and the Iraqi army in 2004 after the leader's newspaper ban and attempts to arrest him. Sadr froze the Mahdi Army in 2007 to engage in the political process.
While the leader in the Current Hazim al-Araji called in the second speech presented on behalf of al-Sadr all believers for an opened peaceful protest and to register their names at the offices of Martyr Sadr against the presence of all occupation forces.
Sadr did not specify the place or time of the protest but he asked the supporters to head to Najaf city after the completion of the demonstration to visit the tomb of the religious authority Mouhammed Baqir al-Sadr.
The religious authority, Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr, the uncle of the leader of Sadrist Current Muqtada al-Sadr, founded the Islamic Dawa Party in 1957 and was executed in Iraq in 1980 along with his sister, for their opposition to the policy of the regime of Saddam Hussein.
While the
representative of Sadr, cleric Khalid al-Mullah called during the demonstration the Iraqi Sunni and Shia to stand against the schemes of the occupier and its presence in Iraq, adding that the unity of the Iraqis foiled all the objectives of the occupier which has worked to spread sectarianism among them.
The correspondent of AKnews stated that the crowds began to go to the holy city of Najaf in response to Sadr's call to visit the grave of his uncle Baqir al-Sadr.
"Not withdrawing from Iraq would mean two things, first; the escalation of military action and the annulment of a freeze on the Mahdi Army," the representative told the rally of protesters on behalf of Sadr, and aired live by the semi-official al-Iraqiya TV broadcaster.
"And the second is an increase in peaceful and popular resistance through rallies and protests in Iraq." he said.
The rally in Baghdad came in response to a call by the cleric to demonstrate against the US presence in Iraq.
Sadr has been calling on Iraqis to demonstrates against the US forces in Iraq since the early days of the US-led war on Iraq on the anniversary of the fall of the former regime, April 9.
Muqtada al-Sadr returned to Iraq earlier this year after heading to Iran in 2007 for being accused, along with some of his close followers, of assassinating the son of the religious authority, Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei, Abdul Majid al-Khoei head of al-Khoei Foundation in London on the tenth of April 2003 inside the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf.
Some believe that the Sadrists supported Maliki's nomination to head the government after the two sides had a deal under which Maliki vowed to give the Sadrists high governmental positions and release their prisoners.
© AK News 2011
