Al-Sadr threatens to end cease-fire

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

BAGHDAD - Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is demanding the Iraqi government protect the public from "the booby traps and American militias" or he may formally end the freeze he imposed seven months ago on his Mahdi Army fighters.

The statement was being circulated to the press and public Tuesday as U.S. and Iraqi troops stepped up their pressure on Shiite militiamen in their Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City.

Al-Sadr also wants a timetable for the U.S. to leave Iraq.

Al-Sadr's cease-fire helped bring down violence but has been under severe strain since fighting broke out last month in Basra and Baghdad.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080408/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_sadr

---

Iraq's Sadr Is In Iran Studying Theology, Academic Says - AFP



TEHRAN (AFP)--Radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is in Iran where he is studying theology, a leading Iranian academic said on Tuesday.

"The presence of Mr Sadr in Iran is just for the study of religious jurisprudence and seminary studies," Mohammad Ali Mohtadi, a lecturer at the Iranian Foreign Ministry's university told the moderate news Web site Aftabnews.

Shiite fighters, including members of Sadr's Mahdi army, have in the last two weeks been involved in clashes with Iraqi government forces that have left hundreds dead.

The comments by Mohtadi, a well known analyst of Middle East affairs who regularly appears on state television, are the first time any Iranian figure has confirmed Sadr's presence in Iran.

more:http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20080408%5cACQDJON200804080834DOWJONESDJONLINE000344.htm&&mypage=newsheadlines&title=Iraq's%20Sadr%20Is%20In%20Iran%20Studying%20Theology,%20Academic%20Says%20-%20AFP