Iraqi Shiite cleric opposes US 'eternal slavery' pact

Sovereignty vs power
The proposed Iraqi-US agreement allowing American forces to remain in the country after their UN mandate expires is already exacerbating Iraq's problems, writes Salah Hemeid

Iraq's Sunni Arabs have their own objections to an agreement that is widely seen to infringe on the country's sovereignty despite speculation that some Sunnis might consider a prolonged American presence as offering protection against Iranian ambitions in Iraq. Although Sunni politicians and lawmakers support the fledging government's position, imams and activists have been outspoken in rejecting the pact. Iraq's Sunni Arab neighbours are also fearful that any long-term presence is a recipe for further trouble in the war-torn nation which will impact on their own security.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/902/fr1.htm

Iraqi troops move into militia-held city of Amara
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/19/africa/iraq.php
The operation was the latest initiative this year in which Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq has sent troops into a city dominated by Shiite or Sunni militias, and followed an offer of amnesty by Maliki to militants in Amara who were willing to surrender. He had also offered to buy back heavy weapons from militia fighters.

Similar offers in the past few months had presaged military operations against Shiite or Sunni militias in Basra, the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul.

The operation in the south follows a surge in violence in Baghdad, the capital, on Tuesday when a car bomb killed 63 people in a Shiite district, touching off a display of sectarian tensions that had been ebbing as the overall violence dropped in Iraq.
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Last week, Sadr announced that he was separating the political and military wings of his movement, apparently in anticipation of a proposal, expected to be approved this month, that would bar parties or movements with armed wings from participating in the provincial elections.

On Sunday, a senior aide to Sadr said that candidates supporting Sadr would run in the fall elections, but as independents or with other political parties, rather than under the cleric's banner.

Alissa J. Rubin reported from Baghdad, and Graham Bowley from New York. An Iraqi employee of The New York Times contributed reporting from Amara, Iraq.