Iraq’s Prime Minister is giving Sadrists three days to turn over their weapons and renounce violence or face prison.
I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking they probably figure on prison sentences at the very least as part of a holy martyr’s risks. I rather doubt the threat will have any impact. And, I could be wrong about this, but it seems to me that the cease fire instigated by al-Sadr was the government’s best hope for less violence. What went wrong there?
FIERCE battles have erupted between Iraqi security forces and Shiite militias in Basra, Baghdad and other cities as the Government, backed by US and British reconnaissance planes, launched an offensive aimed at draining the power of politically backed gunmen.The fiercest fighting in an operation codenamed Saulat al-Fursan (Charge of the knights) on Tuesday took place in Basra neighbourhoods, where Iraqi forces targeted members of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, further risking the collapse of a ceasefire that Sadr declared in late August. His fighters' stand-down has been widely credited with helping curb violence throughout the country during the American troop build up known as the surge.
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In a sign of the offensive's importance, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki flew to Basra on Monday to oversee operations.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was in Basra to supervise a crackdown against the spiraling violence between militia factions vying for control of the center of the country's vast oil industry located near the Iranian border.[...]
Followers of al-Sadr […] have been fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces in Baghdad and other cities in reaction to the Basra crackdown.
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Hundreds of Sadr City residents took to the streets on Wednesday, demanding the government stop military operations in Basra and other cities and withdraw all security forces.
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The Sadrists are angry over recent raids and detentions, saying U.S. and Iraqi forces have taken advantage of the cease-fire to crack down on the movement.
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Suspected Shiite extremists also unleashed rockets or mortars against the U.S.-protected Green Zone in central Baghdad for the third day this week.
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Sadiq al-Rikabi, a chief adviser to al-Maliki, said gunmen who fail to turn over their weapons to police stations in Basra by Friday will be targeted for arrest. He added that they also must sign a pledge renouncing violence.
"Any gunman who does not do that within these three days will be an outlaw," he said.
Well, that oughta do it. I know they’d hate to be labeled outlaws.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
Update 3/25/08: TPM has some explication of how the cease-fire has been breeched, beginning perhaps with rogue elements of the Sadr militia.
Update 3/28/08: Making adjustments.
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