Sadr: No resistance during holy month of Muharram

ROME: Radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told an Italian newspaper in an interview published Friday that his Mahdi Army militia would not resist the prime minister's planned security crackdown during the sacred Islamic month of Muharram.

Al-Sadr said 400 of his men had been arrested, confirming an earlier statement from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He also said he is being targeted, prompting him to move his family to a secure location, La Repubblica reported.

The newspaper did not say how or where it conducted the interview with al-Sadr.

Pressure is increasing on al-Sadr's militia ahead of a planned security sweep aimed at stemming the sectarian violence in the Iraqi capital. On Friday, U.S. and Iraqi forces arrested one of the cleric's top aides in Baghdad, his office said.

"During Muharram, the Quran prohibits us from killing," the cleric told the Italian newspaper, referring to the Islamic lunar month marking the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Muharram starts Friday for Sunnis and Saturday for Shiites.

"Let them kill us. For a true believer, there is no better moment than this to die: Heaven is ensured," he was quoted as saying. "After Muharram, we'll see."

"It is not us they want to destroy, but Islam. We are just an obstacle," said al-Sadr. "For the time being we will not put up resistance."

Read the rest at the International Herald Tribune

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