http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-16452-Gates:-Sadr-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-US.htmlSaturday, April 12, 2008 07:07 GMT
With mounting US accusations to Al Mehdi Army and Al Sadr Bloc of hindering efforts of Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki and easing foreign interferences in Iraq, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates held a press conference with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen during which he clarified the US Administration stand towards Al Sadr. Gates affirmed that Al Sadr will not be treated as the enemy of the United States if he chooses to assume a peaceful role in Iraq politics.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/apr/13/usa.iraqUS pledge to arrest or kill Shia cleric Tuesday April 13 2004
The US military last night vowed to "kill or capture" a radical Shia cleric who led an uprising against the occupation authorities, despite warnings that it would unleash yet more violent unrest.
"The mission of US forces is to kill or capture Moqtada al-Sadr," said Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, America's most senior general in Iraq. His threat comes despite concerted efforts by leading Iraqi politicians to negotiate a deal between the authorities and Mr Sadr, 30, whose forces in the past week have led rebellions in Baghdad and towns across southern Iraq.
The cleric is now holed up in Najaf, near the Imam Ali shrine, one of the holiest sites in the Shia faith. His forces yesterday began to withdraw from parts of Najaf, apparently due to progress in the talks.
"The situation would be disastrous in Najaf if the Americans went in," said Adnan Hadi al-Asadi, Iraq's deputy interior minister and a senior figure in the Islamic Dawa, Iraq's most influential Shia party whose representatives have been mediating between Mr Sadr and Paul Bremer, the US administrator in Iraq, to calm the crisis.
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