tagged w/ Muqtada al-Sadr
-
Leila Fadel: Provincial elections could shift the power balance in Iraq as many Iraqis are disenchanted.
Trying to understand whether the upcoming Provincial elections in Iraq will change the balance of power in the country, Paul Jay speaks to Leila Fadel, Baghdad Bureau Chief of McClatchy Newspapers. Discussing the various provinces, Fadel says that in places such as the Ninevah Province, the Kurdish and Arab tensions are rising to the surface and the ballot box will really change the power brokers there. In Diyala, a province that has been dominated by Shia politicians but mostly populated by Sunni Muslims, a major shift may happen as this will be the first time Sunnis will vote there. Another aspect of the power structure in Iraq will become clear in relation to the power of the Sadrist movement as it has been “unclear how much the Sadr movement lost power,” says Fadel. It is clear though that the standard of life and the price of oil have not changed and that most in Iraq are frustrated with the current government and are going to express their disenchantment at the polls.
Leila Fadel is the chief of the Baghdad bureau of McClatchy Newspapers. She has covered the war in Iraq for Knight Ridder and now McClatchy on and off since June 2005, as well as the 34-day war in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel in the summer of 2006. Prior to joining the McClatchy team she worked at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as a crime and higher education reporter.
Fadel graduated from Northeastern University in Boston in 2004 and has lived in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. She speaks conversational Arabic. She was named print journalist of the year by the Houston Press Club for her work in 2005 and won a Katie Award from the Dallas Press Club in 2006 for her portfolio of work.
Her Iraq reporting won her Print Journalist of the Year honors from the Houston Press Club citing her work from "Bedford (Texas) to Baghdad."
.Leila Fadel: Provincial elections could shift the power balance in Iraq as many Iraqis... more
-
-
(If the video doesn't load, click on the link above)
Leila Fadel: Jan 31 provincial elections will not be a religious fight - but amongst the Shia elite. Part 4
According to Leila Fadel, Baghdad bureau cheif for McClatchy Newspapers, sectarian leaders elected in Iraq's 2005 general election did not significantly improve the lives of average Iraqis. In the upcoming January 2009 provincial elections, many hope for secular leaders focused on Iraq's national interests, but the real battle will be between the elites of the Shia for control of the oil rich south.
Leila Fadel is the chief of the Baghdad bureau of McClatchy Newspapers. She has covered the war in Iraq for Knight Ridder and now McClatchy on and off since June 2005, as well as the 34-day war in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel in the summer of 2006. Prior to joining the McClatchy team she worked at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as a crime and higher education reporter.
Fadel graduated from Northeastern University in Boston in 2004 and has lived in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. She speaks conversational Arabic. She was named print journalist of the year by the Houston Press Club for her work in 2005 and won a Katie Award from the Dallas Press Club in 2006 for her portfolio of work.
Her Iraq reporting won her Print Journalist of the Year honors from the Houston Press Club citing her work from "Bedford (Texas) to Baghdad."
See Part 1 at:
http://current.com/items/89611221/iraqis_suspicious_of_pullout_deal.htm
See Part 2 at:
http://current.com/items/89613482/the_iraqi_view_of_the_surge.htm
See Part 3 at:
http://current.com/items/89623582/iraqi_elites_fight_for_position.htm(If the video doesn't load, click on the link above)
Leila Fadel: Jan 31... more
-
-
Adam Ashton: A national referendum on the pact will allow Iraqi's to see if the agreement works for them.
Iraq's parliament on Thursday approved a security pact with the United States that lets American troops stay in Iraq for three more years. The deal must now be ratified by the Presidential Council, whose approval is expected. Under the deal, US forces must withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30 and the entire country by January 1, 2012. With an english version of the agreement still to be released, experts claim there may be a dispute over the interpretation of certain parts of the pact. It is for this reason, among others that McClatchy journalist Adam Ashton believes that "some of the other parties have urged for a referendum" on the deal.
Adam Ashton is a journalist for McClatchy Newspapers currently based in Baghdad, Iraq.Adam Ashton: A national referendum on the pact will allow Iraqi's to see if the... more
-
-
Michael Schwartz examines the Sadrists' reaction to the US-Iraq security pact. Part 3 of 3
In the final part of this series, professor Michael Schwartz stresses how Iraqi popular resistance was crucial from the beginning in blocking the Bush administration agenda, and how the Sadrist movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr may decide to fight the occupation beyond the signing of the security pact.
Michael Schwartz is a professor of Sociology and the founding director of the Undergraduate College of Global Studies at Stony Brook University (SUNY). He has written extensively on the war in Iraq for publications including Mother Jones, Asia Times, ZNet and TomDispatch and is the author of War Without End: The Iraq War in Context (Haymarket, 2008).
See Part 1 at:
http://current.com/items/89563060/us_iraq_what_s_the_deal.htm
See Part 2 at:
http://current.com/items/89569106/us_iraq_the_big_picture_is_a_neocon_failure.htmMichael Schwartz examines the Sadrists' reaction to the US-Iraq security pact.... more
-
-
Adam Asher: There is concern whether al-Sadr will call off his ceasefire if the pact passes parliament.
With the proposed US Iraqi Security pact due to be voted on by the Iraqi parliament on November 24th. Thousands of followers of Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr converged on a central Baghdad square for a mass prayer, to protest the status of forces agreement. McClatchy correspondent Adam Asher who was on the scene says what concerns people is "whether Muqtada al-Sadr will call off his cease fire if the [status of forces agreement] passes Parliament.
Adam Asher is a journalist for McClatchy Newspapers currently based in Baghdad, Iraq
Related Story:
http://current.com/items/89549177/iraq_us_security_pact_bitter_battles_ahead.htmAdam Asher: There is concern whether al-Sadr will call off his ceasefire if the pact... more
-
-
Coverage of Iraq in the U.S. has been all about the surge and its success. But more troops will remain in Baghdad after the surge than before it. Violence may be down but it's all relative. From mass slaughter to acceptable levels of violence, has the surge really worked? Patrick Cockburn, the author of The Occupation and Muqtada al-Sadr and the Battle for the Future of Iraq discusses the recent protests in Baghdad, the rise of al-Sadr, and why Americans are still misreading Iraq.
You can see the full interview at GRITtv.org.Coverage of Iraq in the U.S. has been all about the surge and its success. But more... more
-
-
GRITtv
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
Coverage of Iraq that we’ve seen here over the past six months has been all about the surge. But in Baghdad over the weekend there was a different kind of surge. Tens of thousands of protesters marched through the streets to oppose a renewal of the Status of Forces Agreement, which would extend the US presence in Iraq for three more years until the end of 2012. For members of parliament the stakes are high. Provincial and national elections will be held next year and the US presence is highly unpopular throughout the country, excluding perhaps the Kurdish north.
The demonstration also clearly shows that Muqtada al-Sadr remains an enormously powerful figure in Iraq capable of mobilizing thousands of Iraqi people in opposition to the US occupation. A statement from al-Sadr read at the rally called on parliament to vote down the pact: “I reject and condemn the continuation of the presence of the occupation force, and its bases on our beloved land,” the letter said. Sadr called the pact “shameful for Iraq.”
No one writing in English today understands Iraqi politics better than Patrick Cockburn, the author of two recent books on Iraq: The Occupation and Muqtada: Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq. He joins us today, October 21, to discuss the recent protests, the rise of al-Sadr, and if Americans are still misreading Iraq.
*Post your comments and questions at www.grittv.org.Coverage of Iraq that we’ve seen here over the past six months has been all... more
-
-
GRITtv
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Thousands of people marched in central Baghdad on Saturday to protest a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that would extend the presence of U.S. troops in the country after the end of the year.BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Thousands of people marched in central Baghdad on Saturday to... more
-
-
Hard-line Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr issued a fresh call on Friday for US troops to withdraw from Iraq, saying there would be no sectarian violence after foreign forces quit the country.
His followers also set fire to a large Pokemon doll decked out in small US flags after Friday prayers in Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City quarter, a bastion of the cleric, where some 2 million people live.
The faithful torched American and Israeli flags and danced around the flames while waving an Iraqi flag and chanting slogans denouncing the occupying foreign forces.
Sadr's representative, Sheikh Sattar al-Battat, leading the first Friday prayers after the end of Ramadan, said his leader wanted the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to get the Americans out quickly.
"I ask the government to end the occupation," Battat said, quoting a message from Sadr, who is reportedly studying in the Iranian city of Qom. "The government must send out the US troops and free all Iraqi prisoners held by them."
The Sadr representative said that there would be no sectarian violence between the majority Shiites and the Sunnis after Iraqi sovereignty was restored with the withdrawal of all "occupying forces." Hard-line Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr issued a fresh call on Friday for US troops to... more
-
-
Alive in Baghdad: In May '08 Iraqi troops entered Sadr City after weeks of fighting. What did they find?
Courtesy of www.aliveinbaghdad.org. Alive in Baghdad employs Iraqi journalists to produce video packages each week about a variety of topics on daily life in Iraq.
Iraq, Baghdad/Sadr City – since the last few years Sadr City was the center of many battles between the Mahdi Army and the US military. Many homes, shops, and other buildings were destroyed in the first battles there in 2005, the conflict took place between the US forces and the Mahdi Army after a statement was released by Muqtada Al-Sadr commanding his followers to fight the “occupation forces” in order to liberate Iraq from the US
forces.
Another conflict took place in the year 2006 in Najaf were the Iraqi National Guard was fighting the Mahdi Army’s militias. The US forces assisted the Iraqi National Guard with this battle in Najaf, and this influenced many of Muqtada Al-Sadr’s forces based in Sadr City to fight the US forces and the Iraqi National Guard.
The battle moved from primarily in Najaf to Sadr City, and more than 100 people were killed in the battles in Najaf and Sadr City. At this time, Muqtada Al-Sadr reached an agreement with the Iraqi government to arrange a ceasefire between the Mahdi Army and the US and Iraqi forces in order to stop what many expected to be certainly a bloodbath.
Moqtada released a statement in early 2007 commanding all the Mahdi Army fighters to cease fighting the Iraqi forces and consider them as an equal part of Iraq to those who are loyal to the Mahdi Army and Muqtada Al-Sadr.
There were ongoing minor and sometimes major clashes and operations in Sadr City throughout 2007 and leading up to the Spring of 2008, when a major operation was begun in Sadr City, to eliminate the influence and weapons of suspected Mahdi Army militants. In May 2008 the Iraqi National Guard were finally able to enter Sadr City, pushing deep into the district and taking control of the area. Alive in Baghdad’s newest correspondent Ali Le’abi was with them, and interviewed a number of residents about their experience of the confrontation with US and Iraqi forces.
Alive in Baghdad: In May '08 Iraqi troops entered Sadr City after weeks of... more
-
-
Iraqi troops and police backed by US forces have been sent to the southern city of Amara in a fresh operation against Shia gunmen, officials say.
Iraqi army tanks have been patrolling major streets in the city and the security forces set up checkpoints.
Hundreds were reported killed in March in battles which began in Basra and spread to Baghdad and elsewhere.
A main militia leader, Moqtada Sadr, has ordered his Mehdi Army followers to observe a ceasefire, but the authorities say attacks by Shia militiamen have continued. Helicopters dropped leaflets on Amara, the capital of Maysan province, urging residents to stay at home and not to interfere with the operation.
A spokesman for US forces declined to give details other than saying it was led and planned by the Iraqis. Iraqi troops and police backed by US forces have been sent to the southern city of... more
-
-
Iraqi authorities have imposed a curfew on Baghdad today on the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to US forces. Muqtada Al-Sadr has also cancelled a million-man march originally planned to be staged in Baghdad today.
An official in the Baghdad operations command for Iraqi security forces has said that cars and motorcycles are banned from the streets of the Iraqi capital between 5am and midnight.
Sporadic gunfire and explosions continued across Baghdad's Sadr City district last night. Al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia has been fighting with US and Iraqi forces in Sadr City near Baghdad for the past three days.
Al-Sadr has threatened to end his shaky 7 month old ceasefire with US forces, credited in large part to the success of Bush's "surge" strategy. In a communiqué released in Baghdad yesterday, he demanded the Iraqi government protect the public from what he called the booby traps and American militias or he would formally end the call for non-violent resistance.Iraqi authorities have imposed a curfew on Baghdad today on the fifth anniversary of... more
-
-
Iraq's prime minister raised the stakes in his showdown with followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, saying they would be barred from elections unless their militia disbands.
"A decision was taken... that they no longer have a right to participate in the political process or take part in the upcoming elections unless they end the Mehdi Army," Mr Maliki said. "Solving the problem comes in no other way than dissolving the Mehdi Army," he said.
Sadr spokesman Salah al-Ubaidi rejected the ultimatum: "No one can intervene in the Mehdi Army; only those who established it and the religious leaders," he said.
Iraq's prime minister raised the stakes in his showdown with followers of... more
-
-
Enigmatic Shi'ite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr has again called for a million-man march in Iraq.
On Wednesday, April 9th, the march would mark the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Baghdad by US-led forces. Al-Sadr seeks to join all Iraq's ethnicities in a show of unity against the coalition of the increasingly unwilling, and as a rejection of signs of federalism, or sectarian division of Iraq.
'It is time you expressed your rejection of the unjust occupiers and raise your voices against them,' a message from Al-Sadr's office in Najaf stated.
Al-Sadr, in a recent interview with Al-Jazeera, rejected the idea of "liberation" because he claimed life was better under former President Saddam Hussein.
The recent cease-fire and call for peaceful demonstrations could be seen as an attempt to deescalate the recent surge of fighting; however, Al-Sadr said he supported "armed resistance" against US-led forces.
Al-Sadr has called for Million Man marches in previous years to mark the beginning of the occupation, as well as to show support for Lebanon during the July 2006 hostilities with Israel.Enigmatic Shi'ite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr has again called for a million-man march... more
-
-
Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on his followers on Sunday to stop battling government forces after a week of fighting in southern Iraq and Baghdad threatened to spiral out of control.
A crackdown on Shi'ite militants in the southern oil port of Basra has sparked an explosion of violence that has risked undoing the past year's improvements in Iraq's security.
Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on his followers on Sunday to stop... more
-
-
Remember the cease-fire called by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr back at the end of August? Officials are acknowledging that move to be largely responsible for the decrease in violence in Iraq, after the Mahdi Army members put down their guns on the order of their cleric. The cease-fire is set to expire at the end of the month, and a message has gone out that if al-Sadr hasn't extended the cease-fire by the 23rd of February, then followers would "be free to resume their activities." Why would he want to lift the ban? Apparently, al-Sadr is upset that the Iraqi government hasn't purged "criminal gangs" operating within security forces he claims are targeting his followers.
Ugh.Remember the cease-fire called by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr back at the end of... more
-
-
Tori
-
added this
-
4 years ago
- |
-
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said that his militia needs to take 6 months to reorganize - in recent months, his Mahdi Army has broken into many different factions - and therefore suspended all activity starting today for up to 6 months. In his statement, he specifically said that the suspension included actions against "occupiers" (aka the U.S.). His order came after 52 were killed in fighting in Karbala where Shiite pilgrims had come for a religious event.Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said that his militia needs to take 6 months to... more
-
-
Tori
-
added this
-
4 years ago
- |
-
The Iraqi government has ordered 1 million Shiite pilgrims to leave the southern city of Karbala after fighting between government security forces and militiamen (likely loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr) killed 26.As if that weren't enough, north of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi forces were battling Sunni insurgents who had been blocking the flow of water to the Shiite town of Khalis. 33 insurgents were killed, but there was no word on Iraqi or U.S. forces casualties.And there's more - a suicide bombing at a mosque in Fallujah (a Sunni city west of Baghdad) on Monday night killed 11.The Iraqi government has ordered 1 million Shiite pilgrims to leave the southern city... more
-
-
Tori
-
added this
-
4 years ago
- |
