al Sadr Accepts Cease Fire Conditions

Fox news | 8/18/04

[kinghorse]

Born from this conflict is a new generation forged from sweat, steel and gunpowder. That's a good thing for the long term health of the USA.

Having said this, I hope someone is keeping track of soldiers collecting 3 purple hearts in under 3 months. They have a tendency to turn up later in life as political types with high ambition. Just saying.

[jayef]

Folks, let's not go off half cocked. Job one was to get this bastard out of that mosque. What happens next is what is important. The offer of participation in the government is not very specific and may not be what we think it is. I'm willing to reserve judgement until I see how the Iraqis handle this from here on.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

This will come back to haunt us....believe me!

He will be quietly disposed of like yesterday's garbage.

There is no benefit from making him a martyr!

We're not making the deal, the Iraq government is.

[epluribus_2]

I agree that ME mannerisms may result in a very complex negociation that will make each side claim victory and defuse (for now) the situation.

My beef is that cancer is cancer. If you ignore it without chemo or surgery it will eventually kill you. May kill you anyway.

[7.62 x 51mm]

I second that!

[RockinRight]

Well, then I'd hope that when Bush gets re-elected we'll shoot the bastard...

[don'tbedenied]

Not arguing with the cancer idea, I agree cutting it out would be great--if we were running Iraq. We're not. We're the muscle of democratic Iraq. I wish the Iraqi PM would use it more forcefully.

[camas]

we (the US) have already made plans.

[XJarhead]

This weird Kabuki dance Middle Easterners do is so illogical by our standards, yet if our goal is a democratic Iraq we need to let them handle their own countrymen.

Such reasoned approaches are going to get you blasted by a lot of folks here.

The key thing is that this guy has been holed up in the most holy shrine in Iraq. That gave him a lot of leverage. If the settlement involves him marching his troops out, putting it under the protection of Iraqi government forces, etc., that's a huge win for the coalition. A problem will have been solved without destroying a religious shrine, and the government will have gained prestiged by handling it in this manner.

Plus, the fact that he actually left it -- unlike in Fallujah where the dirtbags stayed in place -- means that we gain some credibility as well. And I strongly suspect that what's happened in Najaf is the first domino. Once that is secured, the Iraqi government will have demonstrated successfully an ability to suppress a rebellion, and a willingness to impose its will.

The next stop a month of so down the road may be Fallujah again. Only this time, with no shrine, we can bring down a harder hammer.

[coconutt2000]

Al Sadr is about as Muslim as John Kerry is Catholic.


They both use their religious affiliation to political benefit, but fail to act on the aspects of their religion that require them to do something contrary to their ambition. They are both ambitious politicians, nothing more and quite a whole bit less.

[Kingasaurus]

"What happens next is what is important. The offer of participation in the government is not very specific and may not be what we think it is. "

The offer of participation is simply what Allawi has been saying all along. Put down your guns and, if you like, run for a political office. It doesn't mean that Allawi is offering Sadr some government position in exchange for a surrender. They would never do something as precedent-setting and harmful as that. They know he's a snake, and an Iranian stooge.

The reason Sadr doesn't wan to lay down his militia is twofold. First, he's basically taking orders from Tehran. Second, even if he wasn't taking orders from Tehran, he would never run for a political office because he doesn't have enough support to be elected goat-catcher.

Allawi knows this, which is why he has no fear of Sadr in the political arena. He's a dead end.

[TexKat]

Delegate: Al-Sadr Agrees to Withdraw

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has accepted a peace plan drafted by the Iraqi National Conference, which would include laying down arms and withdrawing his militia from a holy shrine in the city of Najaf, a delegate told the conference Wednesday. There was no immediate confirmation from al-Sadr's office.

Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia has been battling U.S. and Iraqi forces in the holy city of Najaf for nearly two weeks. A previous effort to broker a truce collapsed over the weekend, and al-Sadr, whose forces fought a two-month insurgency in the spring, has made contradictory statements in the past.

On Tuesday, an eight-person delegation from the conference traveled to Najaf to present a peace proposal to al-Sadr. It demanded the cleric's militia disarm, leave the Imam Ali Shrine where it has taken refuge, and transform itself into a political party in exchange for amnesty.

Al-Sadr declined to meet the peace delegation, and earlier Wednesday Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan said the government could raid the shrine within hours to push out the militants.

On Wednesday evening, however, Safiya al-Suhail, an independent Shiite delegate at the conference, said she had received a letter from al-Sadr's Baghdad office saying he accepted the proposal.

"Muqtada al-Sadr has agreed on the conditions set by the National Conference," she said reading the letter to the conference.

"We call on the Iraqi government and the National Conference to participate in implementing what is proposed by Muqtada al-Sadr, otherwise everybody will bear the responsibility," the letter said.

[Tunehead54]

Well, they flushed him out without a shot being fired.

---

Once the mausoleum is cleaned out the Iraqis will have to set up 24/7 protection around it and ALL other mosques/"holy sites" to prevent these type of hostage situations. Crossing fingers.

[Smogger]

Alrigt folks I am confused as to what occurred first. Sadr agreeing to lay down his arms or the Iraqi Defense Mininsters proclamation that the final battle for Najaf is "imminent" and Iraqi troops are preparing to storm the shrine.

Apparently I am not the only one:

Sadr agrees to peace plans 18/08/2004 16:37 - (SA)

Doha - A spokesperson for rebel leader Moqtada Sadr expressed surprise on Wednesday at threats of an imminent attack on his militia by Iraqi forces, saying the Shiite cle ric had agreed to demands made by peace mediators.

"We are surprised by the declaration and threat by the minister of defence ... because we have given our full accord to the initiative presented by the delegation," Ahmed Shibani said on Al-Jazeera television.

Defence minister Hazem al-Shaalan vowed that a "decisive" battle would be launched against Sadr militiamen, who he said must surrender within hours in the central holy city of Najaf, where heavy fighting raged earlier on Wednesday.

Shibani said: "The delegation came with three demands, including that the mehdi army hands (the security of) the old city to the suitable party...and that the Sadr movement participates in the political process."

He added that the Sadr movement was ready to take part in the political process "if it is honest".

"We discussed these points and 10 other points that had been discussed with (national security advisor) Muaffaq al-Rubaie, and our efforts were successful. The delegation went back satisfied," he said.

But the government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi was "blocking" any peaceful resolution of the crisis, he said.

"We are ready to meet the delegation anytime...we pledge to (organise) a meeting between Moqtada Sadr and the delegation" on the condition of "putting an end to the bombardment of the old city of Najaf and the end of the siege", he said.

The fierce fighting has threatened a peace initiative spearheaded by emissaries from Iraq's key national conference, who travelled to the shrine late on Tuesday, only to be snubbed by Sadr who said "aggression by the Americans" had made it unsafe for him to appear.

Rajaa Habib al-Khuzai, a former member of Iraq's former governing council, one of those who went to Najaf, said the head of the mission, Sheikh Hussein al-Sadr, would meet Allawi to ask for a ceasefire for a subsequent trip.

Khuzai also told Al-Jazeera: "All what Shibani said was true. The mediation did not fail. On the contrary, it was a success. The meeting was positive."

She also denounced the threats by the defence minister of an imminent offensive, saying: "It is regrettable because there was an agreement this morning."

[TexKat]

Iraqi delegates to a conference choosing a national assembly said on August 18, 2004 that radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had agreed to demands to end an uprising in the holy city of Najaf. A letter from Sadr's office in Baghdad, read out by delegates, said the cleric had agreed to demands from the government-backed conference which included leaving the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. Spokesmen for Sadr could not be immediately be reached for comment. A crowd of supporters carry an al-Sadr in the courtyard of the Mosque August 16. (Chris Helgren/Reuters)

[blaquebyrd]

UNBELIEVABLE! How many Americans died to bring this process to a successful "AGREEMENT OF CEASFIRE!" If this were the Clinton administration we'd be screaming from the roof tops about Black Hawk Down Redux. Instead we sit back and accept this as a victory? UNBELIEVABLE!!!

[sockmonkey]

When I heard this, I said "OH, s***" This is getting ridiculous-heck, it's been ridiculous.
Sadr and his pals need to go now.

[DeuceTraveler]

The marines have already admitted that this guy's forces were better trained and armed than they were the last time this happened. Perhaps we are waiting until they are on par with us.

[Publius6961]

What is this one? the five-hundred-and-thirty-eighth time?

[SaveTheChief]

Don't you all love the way Iraq negotiates with terrorists?