NY Times: Sadr militia sows destruction, takes control of city of Amara

RAW STORY
Published: Saturday October 21, 2006

Iraqi militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr waylaid the southern city of Amara, destroying police stations, setting off explosives and briefly seizing control of the entire city, the New York Times will report on the front page of its Saturday edition.

Hundreds of armed loyalists "battled local police and members of a rival Shiite militia," writes Kirk Semple, "detonating bombs that sent thick pillars of black smoke into the sky.

"At one point, the Mahdi Army, al-Sadr's militia force, appeared to be in control of the eastern half of the city of about 250,000," the article continues. "But after a day of negotiations involving representatives of the warring militias, and delegates from the Baghdad offices of Prime Minister, Mahdi Army gunmen withdrew from their positions, and by nightfall the city was under the control of an Iraqi army battalion that had been dispatched from Basra..."

The clashes reveal problems with how the nation's Shiite leadership is to maintain control outside of Baghdad, and come after President Bush held a meeting Friday with his top Middle East commander, Gen. John P. Abizaid, to discuss regional strategy.

Excerpts from the article follow:

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The clashes, pitting fighters linked to al-Sadr against members of the Badr Organization, the military wing of the country's most powerful Shiite party, exposed the deep fissures in the country's Shiite leadership and cast doubt on the ability of the ruling Shiite coalition to hold itself together. It also underscored the weaknesses of the Iraqi security forces and the potency of the Mahdi Army, which is widely accused of propelling the cycle of sectarian violence.

Reviews of U.S. strategy in Iraq took on more urgency on Friday, as President Bush held a half-hour meeting at the White House with General John. P. Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East. The meeting was the first of several scheduled in coming days with his senior advisers.

The stability of al-Maliki's government in Baghdad depends on a tenuous peace between al-Sadr, who controls one of Iraq's largest parliamentary blocs, and Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who leads the largest Shiite party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, and its private army, the Badr Organization. A dynastic rivalry between their two families, dating back decades, has carried over into a personal and political rivalry between the men, and their militias have periodically clashed.

"The split is very old and it has caused a lot of tragedy," said Abd-Kareem al-Mahamedawy, one of Amara's most prominent political leaders and a moderate Shiite. "It's just a fight for power."

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