Sadr aide says Maliki comments give Americans a 'green light' to kill Sadrists, warn 'next few days will witness Maliki's end'

Above: Soldiers from the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment pull security during an operation targeting Sadrist militia group leaders in Adhamiyah in April.

Followers of radical cleric condemn al-Maliki's statements

Officials in radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's movement Sunday strongly condemned statements made by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki saying his comments give the Americans a "green light" to kill members of the Shiite group.

On Saturday, al-Maliki said al-Sadr's movement and Mahdi Army militia have been infiltrated by Saddam Hussein loyalists and criminal gangs. His comments to reporters were among his harshest criticisms against the group that helped his Dawa party take the premiership.

Sheik Ahmed al-Shaibani, an aide to the anti-American al-Sadr, said "regrettably, al-Maliki wanted to give his government some stimulants through these statements and wanted to say to the occupiers that 'I am ready to implement your agenda by ending the Mahdi Army militarily and politically'"...

"Through these statements, he (al-Maliki) is giving the green light to occupation soldiers to carry raids and kill the sons of the Sadrist movement," said Salah al-Obeidi, a spokesman for al-Sadr.

Al-Obeidi said that a Baghdad security plan that was launched in February failed "and those behind it are trying to cover this failure by blaming the Sadrist movement."

Read the rest at the International Herald Tribune

Sadr movement warns Iraqi PM to back off

Followers of Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have accused Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of attacking them in order to appease his US allies Sunday and warned him his days in office might be numbered...

For Ahmed al-Shaibani, a senior aide to Sadr who was held in US military custody for two years before being freed at Maliki's request, the prime minister's statement was a sign he can see his grip on power slipping.

"Maliki's government is ending, the next few days will prove this. As for us, it is ended, as it is ended in the occupation's view," he told AFP, adding "sources" had told him US support for Maliki was fading.

"This government was formed and Maliki became its head thanks to the Sadr movement's support, can it be that Baathists and Saddamists brought him to his post?" he demanded, ironically.

"Is it reasonable for Maliki to hit at the Sadr movement in order to appease occupation forces? We say that the next few days will witness Maliki's end."

Read the rest at Yahoo News

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