Iraq govt orders arrest of top Sunni cleric

[ECH1969]

The Iraqi government has issued an arrest warrant for the country's most prominent Sunni cleric, Harith al-Dari, state television Iraqiya said.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16668651.htm
--------------------------------------------------------

al-Dari is the most powerful Sunni in Iraq. This is a declaration of all out war by the Iraqi government.

[Charlie Brown]

1. Iraqi government orders arrest of top Sunni cleric

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16928222.htm

BAGHDAD, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The Iraqi government has issued an arrest warrant for the country's most prominent Sunni cleric, Harith al-Dari, Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani told Iraqiya state television on Thursday.

In a move that could inflame sectarian passions, Bolani said the head of the Muslim Clerics Association was accused of "supporting terrorism".

Shi'ite majority leaders have complained this month that Dari had appeared to justify violence by al Qaeda in televised comments in which he complained Iraq's once dominant Sunnis were being treated unfairly in the U.S.-sponsored political process.

[Kagemusha]

2. I see... unite the Shiites together against a common enemy.

A response to the mass kidnapping. They can't hold the government together without redirecting it towards a common foe of the Shiites or the factionalization will break them...

Cold. Very cold.

[jannyk]

3. Well, it worked well enough here didn't it? n/t

[Virginia Dare]

4. So where is this coming from?

Did the neocons order this, or are the Iraqis doing this on their own? This is an express ticket straight to Hell. What a FUBAR.

[ECH1969]

5. This is the Shia led government's own doing

They are trying to redirect peoples attention after the Madhi Army kidnapped 150 Iraqis to a common enemy.

[maddezmom]

6. AP: Warrant issued for influential Sunni (probably in Jordan)

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Interior Ministry issued an arrest warrant Thursday for the head of the influential Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars.

Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, a Shiite, said Harith al-Dhari was wanted for inciting terrorism and violence among the Iraqi people. Al-Dhari the top leader for the Sunni minority.

The call for al-Dhari's arrest came two days after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called him a hard-liner with "nothing to do but incite sectarian and ethnic sedition."

Al-Dhari regularly travels between Iraq and the Gulf states, as well as Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Al-Dhari was believed to be in Jordan when the arrest warrant was issued Thursday night.

Al-Dhari is an outspoken critic of al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government and the continued U.S. occupation of the country.

more;http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061116/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_sunni_arrest_1

[maddezmom]

7. related link: Iraqis feud over mass kidnap tally

11-16) 04:00 PST Baghdad -- A day after a mass kidnapping raid in the capital, Shiite and Sunni Arab government officials bickered Wednesday over the actual number of hostages still missing.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, said that all but two of 39 abductees taken Tuesday by heavily armed gunmen wearing police commando uniforms had been released. Sunni Arab officials, including the minister in charge of the Higher Education Ministry building where the raid took place, say that as many as 150 were kidnapped and that 70 remain missing.

Ministry fears were compounded Wednesday by the discovery around the capital of 55 unidentified bodies. In addition, education officials questioned the motives of the government and their tally of the missing abductees.

They also criticized al-Maliki's insistence that the kidnappers were not real police commandos and his reluctance to blame Shiite militias, some of whom have infiltrated the force and conducted death-squad killings and kidnappings. Al-Maliki is himself a Shiite, and the ministry is run by Sunni Arabs.

more:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/16/MNGUFMDNEV1.DTL&feed=rss.news

[maddezmom]

8. another link: General: Iraqi government not meeting Sunni needs

http://www.navytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2356166.php

[maddezmom]

9. more: CIA chief paints bleak picture of divided Iraq

Hayden difficulties in Iraq remain titanic even if if government is supported by various communities.


WASHINGTON - CIA director General Michael Hayden said Wednesday the Iraqi government must overcome "formidable" obstacles, from sectarian divisions and corruption to the presence of Al-Qaeda.


Testifying at a US Senate hearing, Hayden said that "to strengthen the common ground that all Iraqis can share, the government of Prime Minister (Nuri al-) Maliki will have to overcome several formidable obstacles."


"Internal divisions and power struggles among the Shia make it difficult for Shia leaders to take the actions that might ease Sunni fears of domination," he said at the US Senate Committee on Armed Forces.


"Radical Shia militias and splinter groups stoke the violence, while brutal Sunni attacks make even moderate Shia question whether it is possible to reconcile the Sunnis to the new Shia-dominated power structures," the Central Intelligence Agency chief said.

more; http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=18340

So is it civil war yet? :(

[plcdude]

10. this if true

is tantamount to a huge disaster. Our people need to get out of there.

[maddezmom]

12. 2,220 Marines are on their way now

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2618491

[rodeodance]

13. 'temporary' : I read earlier.

[maddezmom]

14. short term..whatever that means

Not the rest of their lives, if they live to make it home. I'm so sick to my stomach right now. Between all the kidnappings daily of Iraqis, innnocent people being blown up, tortured dead in the 100's on and ongoing basis and our guys and gals dying everyday...I can barely see straight. :cry:

[atreides1]

11. Well

If it isn't a civil war yet this will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

One reminder, if the Shia controlled government does this to Sunni Arabs, how long will it be before they do the same thing to Sunni Kurds?

[Teaser]

15. oh shit

run for the exits.

[wholetruth00]

16. He ought to turn himself in and negotiate a peaceful arrangement..if possible.

Otherwise, this is a declaration of civil war.