3 killed by IED; Sadr may end cease-fireBy Qassim Abdul-Zahra - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 21, 2008 6:22:39 EST
BAGHDAD — Anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened to lift a six-month cease-fire by the end of the week, a move that could send his Shiite militia fighters back out on the streets and jeopardize recent security gains that have led to a sharp decline in violence.
Meanwhile, three American troops were killed by a roadside bomb Tuesday night in Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
Sadr’s Shiite Mahdi Army is among the most powerful militias in Iraq, and the cease-fire he ordered last August has been credited with helping reduce violence around Iraq by 60 percent or more in the past half-year.
Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, a spokesman for al-Sadr in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, said that if the cleric failed to issue a statement by Saturday saying that the cease-fire was extended, “then that means the freeze is over.” In other words, al-Sadr’s followers would be free to resume attacks.
According to al-Obeidi, this “has been conveyed to all Mahdi Army members nationwide.”
Rest of article at:
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_iraqattacks_080220/