Jaafari calls for calm, inter-Shiite clash in Najaf, Baghdad
Iraq, Politics, 8/25/2005

The Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has called for calm in his televised speech on late Wednesday evening and deplored the attack against the group of the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sader which resulted in clashes in the two cities of al-Najaf and Baghdad.

Al-Jaafari said that the acts of violence against al-Sader office in Najaf are not acceptable behavior, considering that the language of violence is not permitted in new Iraq.

Clashes, however, erupted in Najaf city between the followers of the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sader and members of the Bader Shiite organization, the military wing for the Higher Council For Islamic Revolution in Iraq and this resulted in killing 6 persons and injuring scores.

A spokesman for al-Sader office said that several persons were killed or injured during the clashes. The spokesman blamed Bader organization announcing the state of alert among their supporters.

Fighting also erupted between al-Sader supporters known as al-Mahdi army and the supporters of Bader organization in three areas in Baghdad including al-Sader city, a Shiite quarters inhabited by one million persons on the eastern outskirts of the city.

Four explosions were heard on Wednesday evening in the southern part of al-Sader city, the quarters which includes an office for Bader organization. Mosques in the city by loudspeakers called on al-Sader militias members to "head for their positions " accusing Bader organization of being responsible for the confrontations in Najaf.

One official in al-Sader group said through the loudspeaker "we deplore criminal acts against al-Sader office in Najaf and hold its responsibility to a group of traitors in Bader organization who retuned back to Iraq on top of American tanks." Following these confrontations, members of al-Mahdi army were deployed in Sader city while others confiscated at least three offices in Baghdad for al-Dawa party which is led by the Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

A security source said that al-Mahdi army members controlled the offices of al-Dawa party in al-Sader city and the two quarters of al-Shaab north of Baghdad and al-Amel in its southern west. A source in the ministry of interior said that the security forces received an order not to interfere.

Moreover, the gunmen of the Mahdi army were deployed in Nasereyah city, 375 Km south of Baghdad.

In the first reaction to the clashes, the Iraqi transport minister Salaam al-Maliki and 21 representatives at the parliament announced suspending their work in protest of burning al-Sader office in Najaf city.

In the past, al-Sader, a Shiite leader with popular support, had strongly opposed the US presence in Iraq, and most recently, was reported to be opposed to a federalism in the constitution that would encourage the break up of Iraq.

Previous Stories:
  Articles from the Iraqi draft constitution   (8/24/2005)
  US views on the Iraqi constitution draft process   (8/24/2005)
  Sticking points of the Iraqi constitution   (8/24/2005)
  Signatures of one million Iraqis rejecting occupation   (7/30/2005)
  Al-Sader tells BBC that resisting occupation in Iraq is legitimate   (7/18/2005)
  Al-Sader delegates for the Muslim Scholars Commission, Zeibari meets with Bin Aleazer   (5/23/2005)

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