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Curfew called in Baghdad amid fighting; Sadr cancels million man march
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 the fall of Baghdad to US forces. Muqtada Al-Sadr... more -
Million man march in Iraq?
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 in Iraq. ... more
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