Radical Shiite Cleric and coalition fugitive Moqtada Sadr gives Friday prayers at a mosque in the small Iraqi town of Kufa on Aprile 23, 2004. Sadr threatened to launch suicide attacks if U.S. troops attack him and his forces in the holy city of Najaf. (UPI Photo/Mitch Prothero)
Moqtada Sadr is the subject or is mentioned in the following stories:
Baghdad's Extremists Losing Weapons Stores
BAGHDAD -- Leaders of the new "elite" force Moqtada Sadr plans to establish to confront U.S. forces in Iraq if there is no American withdrawal timetable could find their kinetic wherewithal thin when they return from exile in Iran.
New Barrier Wall Going Up in Baghdad's Sadr City
BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi army with U.S. help is in the process of hindering the movements of extremist gunmen from al-Mahdi Army and Iranian-influenced Shiite militias, known as special groups, by building a concrete barrier along a part of Sadr City in northeastern Baghdad.
U.S. Forces Issue Microgrants to Help Stabilize Baghdad
BAGHDAD -- U.S. forces in the Iraqi capital are using local entrepreneurship and a helping hand to turn communities into inhospitable places for extremist gunmen.
Flying IED is Latest Weapon Targeting U.S. Troops in Iraq
BAGHDAD -- A relatively new weapon has appeared on the streets of Baghdad and earned itself an acronym in the language for destruction. The weapon is the IRAM, an Improvised Rocket Assisted Mortar.
Iraq-U.S. Draft Loose Withdrawal Pact
AMMAN -- Iraqi negotiators are saying they have agreed a deal with the United States that entails a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by 2011, but Iraqi leaders might overturn the controversial pact that is to determine the future of the U.S. forces in Iraq after the end of this year.
Troops Switch Gears Amid Surge Success
BAGHDAD -- Hearts-and-minds counter-insurgency strategy is increasingly coming to the fore in the way U.S. military forces conduct operations in Baghdad following the apparent success of Gen. David Petreauss troop surge in dampening violence in the capital.
Probing why Women Kill in Iraq
A series of raids in Iraqs troubled Diyala province last weekend included the arrest of a woman purportedly in charge of recruiting female suicide bombers. If true, the detention of Antisar Khudair could provide the United States and Iraqi forces with clues about how women are trained for "martyrdom operations."
Bullets to Ballots in Iraq
The Mehdi Army is no longer up in arms. In fact, the Shiite militia that ruled Sadr City in Baghdad and parts of Basra has been ordered by its boss, the volatile young nationalist imam, Moqtada Sadr, to lay down its arms. Instead he wants to turn the group into a social service organization, relying for its influence on winning hearts and minds rather than the barrel of a gun.
