Al-Sadr Extends Ceasefire by 6 Months
Anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced Friday that he has extended a cease-fire order to his Shiite Mahdi Army by another six months, giving Iraq a chance to continue its fragile recovery from brutal sectarian violence.
His message was delivered by Shiite clerics during prayer services in mosques dominated by followers of the black-turbaned cleric.
“According to an order by Sayyid Muqtada, activities of the Mahdi Army will be suspended … for another six-month period,” al-Sadr’s aide Hazim al-Aaraji said, using an honorific for al-Sadr during his sermon at the Kazimiyah mosque in Baghdad.
Al-Sadr’s decision to halt the activities of his powerful militia for up to six months last August was one of three critical steps widely credited with bringing the Iraqi death toll down more than 60% in recent months.
The other pieces of the puzzle are the so-called surge of U.S. troops and the move by U.S.-backed Sunni fighters to switch allegiances and start working against al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Sheik Sadiq al-Essawi read the instructions in the Mahdi Army’s Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City after opening the envelope that was sent to Sadrist clerics on Thursday.
Al-Sadr said the freeze was extended until the 15th of Shaban, a reference to the Islamic month before Ramadan, which would mean mid-August.
The U.S. military said the decision would allow American and Iraqi troops to focus “more intensively” on the fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Source: USA Today.
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