Friday, August 06, 2004

Meanwhile in Iraq

Fighting between cleric Muqtada al Sadr's militia and the U.S.-led military coalition continued to spread through southern and central Iraq Friday, leaving at least 350 dead and more than 160 injured in two days of battles that threatened the stability of an already fragile nation.
  Knight-Ridder article

Now that's rich - threatening the stability of the nation. What stability would that be?

At any rate, these are obviously very serious battles.

Adding to the high-stakes tension, the nation's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al Husseini al Sistani, was secretly taken out of Najaf and flown to London because of heart problems, according to his representatives. If al Sistani were to die, especially while out of the country, massive unrest could follow and al Sadr, whose father also was a grand ayatollah, might well try to fill the power vacuum. A spokesman in London wouldn't discuss the exact nature of al Sistani's heart problems, but said he'd have tests Monday.

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