US military tightens siege of Sadr City as cleric warns of war

In a statement late Saturday night, Sadr threatened an open war until liberation if the Iraqi government did not take the path of peace and abandon violence against its people. He lashed out at the regime, likening its repressive methods to those of Saddam Hussein. Referring to the pitched battles in 2004 between the Madhi Army and the US military, he asked: Do you want a third uprising?

Sadrs final warning, however, was more a pathetic plea to the Iraqi government, than a declaration of war. This government has forgotten that we are their brothers and were part of them, he said, alluding to the fact that the Sadrist movement helped Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki into office. Military operations were continuing, he declared, despite our freeze of the Madhi Army, our initiatives to defuse the tension and our calls for peaceful protests and strikes.

Sadr is well aware of the deep frustration and anger among Madhi Army fighters who fought Iraqi and US forces to a standstill in Basra and the suburbs of Baghdad, only to be ordered off the streets by the cleric on March 30. Far from ending the fighting, the deal struck between Sadrist leaders and the government enabled the US and Iraqi security forces to regroup and consolidate their positions after their initial offensive into Basra, launched on March 24, collapsed.

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