Moqtada al-Sadr, who is the religious head of the Mahdi Army militia, threatened a full-scale uprising on Saturday against the U.S. backed Iraqi government if they continue widespread crackdowns on his followers.
Anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is upset with Iraqi and U.S. forces that have killed at least a dozen people on Friday night and Saturday which are loyal to his Mahdi Army militia. One of the reasons that security in Iraq has improved over the past year is because Sadr ordered a cease fire last summer. His Mahdi Army was responsible for two bloody uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004.
The Iraqi government has been responsible for killings hundreds of Shiites. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki began the offensive last month in Basra trying to eliminate militias and gangs from causing instability within the region.
''Maliki demanded that Sadr dismantle the Mahdi Army militia as a condition of being permitted to participate in provincial elections in the fall.''
Originally, Sadr urged his followers not to fight back when the crackdown by Maliki began one month ago. They were an attempt by the government to weaken a rival Shiite party before the elections. Sadr's aides have accused Maliki's Dawa party and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq of taking women as hostages and imprisoning the families of his followers.
The U.S. military isn't pleased with these developments. Maj. Brad Leighton had this to say when made aware of Sadr's threats:
''If Sadr declared an open war, we don't see that as a preferable course of action for anyone.''
Although Sadr didn't give a deadline as to when the government should respond, his aides say that they expect an answer within 14 days. However, Haider Abu Abdullah, who is a Mahdi Army company commander based in Kufa, has been told that the government has only one day to respond. If it occurs, Abdullah predicts massive bloodshed where everyone in Iraq will be affected by it.
Leewa Smeisim, who is the head of Sadr's political bureau, says that the Iraqi government has taken advantage of the eight month ceasefire by carrying out mass arrests and executions in Basra, Karbala, Nasiriyah and Diwaniyah.
In another development, the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq is calling on new attacks against the government and its U.S. allies. An audio message was posted Saturday on an insurgent Web site by its reported leader Abu Hamza al-Muhajer who said that it would be a celebration of the deaths of the 4,000 American soldiers.
In Basra, Iraqi officials have taken control of two neighborhood strongholds where the Mahdi Army had rule. U.S. and British troops attacked mortar and rocket sites in the areas of Hayaniyah and Jamiat. The Iraqi security forces then moved into the neighborhoods where they took many cars without license plates that were used in kidnappings and assassinations. Thousands of roadside bombs were found in Hayaniyah.
The Iranian ambassador to Iraq gave a mixed message at a news conference. Iran supports the Maliki's government attempt to target criminals but he also said that the U.S. military operations in Sadr City were done improperly.
The Iranian ambassador, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, had this to say regarding the American forces in Iraq:
''The American forces bombed the homes of innocent people. Many people are also being forced to leave their homes.'' Some Iraqis think that Iran might not be supporting Sadr as strongly as it once did. The United States government has accused Iran of supplying the Sadrists with weapons to further destabilize Iraq.
