Sadr orders militia heads out of Iraq : president [View All]

[denverbill]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has ordered heads of his Mehdi Army militia to leave
Iraq and asked the government to arrest "outlaws" under a U.S.-backed crackdown, Iraq's president said on Thursday.


President Jalal Talabani made the remarks after Iraq closed its borders with Iran and Syria and as U.S. and Iraqi troops tightened their grip on Baghdad, searching neighborhoods and setting up checkpoints that searched even official convoys.

Talabani said he was unaware of Sadr's whereabouts. The U.S. military has said he is in Iran, but his aides insist he is in Iraq's holy Shi'ite city Najaf. An Iraqi government official said he was in Tehran, but only for a short visit.

"I think many of his top Mehdi Army officials have been ordered to leave Iraq to make the mission of the security forces easier," the president was quoted as saying in a statement from his office. It added Sadr supported the crackdown and had given the government the go-ahead to arrest any "outlaws."

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070215/ts_nm/iraq_border_dc_8

Wow. This story keeps getting weirder. Why would Sadr order his own guys out of the country? Where is Sadr?

I get the feeling if Sadr truly did rein in his militias, the situation in Iraq would improve dramatically. Here's hoping for that, because I'm getting the feeling the only way we are getting out of there anytime soon is if Shrubby's 'plan' actually works. Congress sure as hell won't get us out.