Special report:
Tension escalates in
Iraq
BAGHDAD, April 19 (Xinhua) --
Iraq's radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said on Saturday that he would give
the government one more chance to take "path of peace," threatening to declare
war if the government continues cracking down on his Mahdi Army militia.
"I am giving my last warning ... to the Iraqi
government to take the path of peace and stop violence against its own people,"
Sadr said in a statement issued by his office in the holy city of Najaf.
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Policemen stand guard near arrested
Mahdi army fighters at the police headquarters in Hilla March 28,
2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
"If they don't stop the infiltrated militias, then we will declare an open war
until liberation," Sadr warned.
Sadrists always accused other Shiite parties of
infiltrating their militias into Iraqi security forces, mainly their major rival
the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and its military wing the Badr Brigade.
Sadr's latest warning came after the Iraqi troops
backed by U.S. warplanes captured one of the Mahdi Army's stronghold in Basra
and killed a dozen in Baghdad's Sadr City, another main stronghold for the
militia, during an overnight operation.
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esidents gather near the destroyed
vehicles after an air strike in Baghdad's Sadr City April 17,
2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Photo Gallery>>> |
The statement, addressed to all Iraqi people,
highlighted the tension between the cleric and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's
government, which launched a crackdown mainly against Mahdi Army militia in
Basra on March 25, triggering intense street battles across the Shiite south and
Baghdad between the militias and the U.S.-Iraqi forces.
The fighting later died down after Sadr ordered his
fighters off the streets in Baghdad's Sadr City and Basra. But sporadic clashes
continued to be reported as U.S. and the Iraqi forces resumed their offensive
against "outlawed" militias.
Meanwhile, Maliki warned that Sadr must disband his
Mahdi Army militia or will be barred from taking part in the upcoming provincial
elections.
In response, Sadr threatened to formally lift the
ceasefire on his fighters first ordered in last August, which was credited to
the security gains and significant violence drop ever since.
In the statement, Sadr also lashed out at the U.S.
occupation forces and reiterated his demand for the withdrawal of the U.S.-led
foreign troops in Iraq.
"The occupation has made us target of its planes,
tanks, airstrikes and snipers. Without our support this government would not
have been formed. But with its alliance with the occupier it is not independent
and sovereign, as we would like it to be," the cleric said.
Sadr also said he belonged to Iraq and vowed to
continue fighting for the Iraqi people.
"They accuse me of belonging to Iran ... but I belong
to only Iraq. I belong to the will of my people." he said.
