Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr says Mahdi Army no longer a militia

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BAGHDAD/CAIRO - Shiite religious leader Moqtada al-Sadr said on Wednesday that the Mahdi Army, a insurgent group that targets US- led coalition troops in southern Iraq, is no longer a militia.

“I have recently given orders to restrict the activities (of the group) to cultural, social and religious aspects and that its members should work on integrating into society despite the tough conditions they are living in,” al-Sadr told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in an interview.

Al-Sadr reiterated his calls for the establishment of a timeframe for the withdrawal of the multinational troops from Iraq, adding that their remaining on in Iraq “would make matters more complicated.” snip

He refused to describe the resistance as Sunni- or Shiite-based, preferring to dub it as “an Iraqi Islamic resistance that is purely nationalist.”