Al-Sadr still holding to cease-fire order

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Al-Sadr still holding to cease-fire order
From staff and wire reports
Mideast edition, Saturday, February 9, 2008

Speculation surrounding the two most powerful Shiite clerics in Iraq is picking up, with worries about how their actions will affect the security situation in the country.

According to news reports, Muqtada al-Sadr on Thursday reiterated his order that his Mahdi Army militia abide by a six-month cease-fire he announced in late August. In recent weeks, U.S. troops have clashed repeatedly with what the military calls “special groups,” or rogue factions of the militia.

Some of those clashes led to the arrest of 22 people in Sadr City, a teeming Shiite slum of Baghdad that is al-Sadr’s power center.

Thursday’s order, released by a Sadr spokesman, read, “Any member of the Mahdi Army who conducts violent acts during the cease-fire, the Sadr office declares they will no longer be part of the Mahdi Army.”

U.S. and Iraqi officials have credited the cease-fire as one of the main factors in the improved security in Iraq. But without the answer to whether the cease-fire will be extended another six months, officials on both sides are watching al-Sadr’s words and actions closely.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52312