lily
02-26-2007, 03:07 AM
Link (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2007-02-25T220335Z_01_COL360656_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ.xml&src=rss)
Sadr slams Baghdad security plan
Sun Feb 25, 2007 5:03pm ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Radical Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr withdrew
his support for a security crackdown in Baghdad on Sunday, hours after a
female suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed 40 in a
student college.
Police earlier said the bomber at the Baghdad Economy and Administration
College was a man. But they later said it was a women, who blew herself up
in the lobby of the college after she was stopped by guards.
The move by Sadr, an anti-American cleric, is a blow for Shi'ite Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who on Saturday had expressed optimism about the
U.S.-backed offensive.
Until now, Sadr has supported the plan, seen as a last ditch attempt to halt
all-out civil war in Iraq. He said it would not work because U.S. forces
were involved.
"There is no benefit in this security plan because it is controlled by the
occupiers," said an aide to Sadr, reading a statement from the cleric in
front of thousands of chanting supporters in the firebrand's stronghold of
Sadr City.
"(The United States) is watching car bombs explode, taking the souls of
thousands of innocent Iraqi people."
Sadr led his Mehdi Army militia in two uprisings against U.S. forces in
2004. The militia has avoided any confrontation with U.S. forces this time
and there was no indication in Sadr's statement that this position would
change.
Sadr is now an important player in Iraqi politics, and is a key supporter of
Maliki.
Sadr slams Baghdad security plan
Sun Feb 25, 2007 5:03pm ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Radical Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr withdrew
his support for a security crackdown in Baghdad on Sunday, hours after a
female suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed 40 in a
student college.
Police earlier said the bomber at the Baghdad Economy and Administration
College was a man. But they later said it was a women, who blew herself up
in the lobby of the college after she was stopped by guards.
The move by Sadr, an anti-American cleric, is a blow for Shi'ite Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who on Saturday had expressed optimism about the
U.S.-backed offensive.
Until now, Sadr has supported the plan, seen as a last ditch attempt to halt
all-out civil war in Iraq. He said it would not work because U.S. forces
were involved.
"There is no benefit in this security plan because it is controlled by the
occupiers," said an aide to Sadr, reading a statement from the cleric in
front of thousands of chanting supporters in the firebrand's stronghold of
Sadr City.
"(The United States) is watching car bombs explode, taking the souls of
thousands of innocent Iraqi people."
Sadr led his Mehdi Army militia in two uprisings against U.S. forces in
2004. The militia has avoided any confrontation with U.S. forces this time
and there was no indication in Sadr's statement that this position would
change.
Sadr is now an important player in Iraqi politics, and is a key supporter of
Maliki.