Moqtada warms up to Sunnis

 

By Ali Khalil

 

Azzaman, January 29, 2007

 

The radical Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr is reported to be working for reconciliation but it is not clear yet whether he will dismantle his formidable militia known as Mahdi Army.

 

Sadr’s senior aides say the clergyman has accepted the joint U.S.-Iraqi move to contain violence in Baghdad and has offered his assistance.

 

Initially, reports spoke of U.S. inclination to take on his militias in Baghdad. U.S. troops are said to have already arrested hundreds of his armed men including some senior militia leaders.

 

Sadr has dispatched one of his most senior aides, Bahaa al-Araji, who is also a member of parliament, to meet with officials from the Iraqi Islamic Party, a major Sunni political faction.

 

In the meeting, in the presence of President Jalal Talabani, the sides have agreed to put an end to sectarian killings and form joint committees to administer mixed quarters in Baghdad and work for the return of displaced people from both sects.

 

Another aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sadr has instructed his followers in Baghdad and elsewhere to cooperate with the Muslim Scholars Commission, an umbrella group of top-ranking Sunni clerics.

 

The commission and Sadr have been at loggerheads, each accusing the other of violence and terrorist acts.

 

Araji, in a statement issued following his meeting with Talabani and his deputy Tareq Hashemi, leader of the Islamic Party, described the plan to secure Baghdad as “a welcome step.”

 

“If all goes well and our proposals are taken into account, the campaign to secure Baghdad will constitute a historic move which will undoubtedly lead to improvement in security conditions,” the statement said.

 

The statement said the Sadr movement has agreed with Sunni Islamic Party on steps to “protect innocent civilians as the military campaign to flush the city of armed groups is about to start.

 

Both Talabani and Hashemi were reported to have encouraged Sadr’s movement to effectively contribute to normalize conditions in the country and halt the current cycle of violence.

 

Araji, the Sadr representative, declined questions whether the group would disarm its militias which are accused of carrying out many violent operations in Baghdad, a charge the group denies.