Sadrists Call For U.S. Pullout From Residential Areas In Southern Iraq
Baghdad, Oct 22, (VOI) – The Sadrist bloc, or Iraqis loyal to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, call on Monday for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from residential areas in the province of al-Diwaniya, southern Iraq, and to hand over security responsibilities to Iraqi forces.
“The Sadrists also demanded the rehabilitation of security agencies in the province and filtering them of any militias affiliated to parties in power,” Ali al-Mayyali, a bloc member in Diwaniya, said in a statement he read out during a press conference in Baghdad.
U.S. military reinforcements had arrived on Sunday morning in the Multi-National Force (MNF)’s joint coordination center in al-Iskan neighborhood in central Diwaniya, where the Polish forces are taking positions.
A source in Diwaniya police told VOI the reinforcements fall within “massive preparations by the Iraqi army and police with backing from the MNF to hunt down gunmen and outlaws in hot spots that are out of the state control in the province.”
Diwaniya is 180 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
Earlier on Monday, a member of the Iraqi parliament from the Sadrist bloc termed as “carnage” Sunday’s attack on Sadr City, eastern Baghdad.
“Targeting harmless civilians at their homes flagrantly violates human rights,” Falah Shanshal told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI), adding “this was not the first time U.S. forces bombard residential sections in Sadr City.”
The U.S. army said on Sunday that nearly forty-nine “criminals” were killed in an operation carried out by the U.S. forces in Sadr City.
“Coalition forces were engaged in a heavy firefight this morning killing an estimated 49 criminals during operations in Sadr City,” the U.S. army said in a statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Iraqi police sources, however, said the operation resulted in the death of 13 people and the injury of 52 others, adding women and children were included among the victims.
Shanshal appealed to the Iraqi government to clearly reject these violations targeting women and children and people’s possessions.
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Sounds like the Sadrists are trying to steal a page out of the Taliban handbook of propaganda and Maliki bought into it.
Sadr and his group of stink pickles need to get schmucked. I’ve about heard enough from this POS.
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:37 amMooky’s Kooky’s must be feeling the pressure! We need to take that bastard goatfucker out of the picture.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:22 amIs quite revealing that in 04 killing one or two Sadar fighters would provoke widespread Shia outrage, now killing 49 of his guys gets a sadarist parliamentarian pissed off but not much else
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:11 am