CASPER
New member
BAGHDAD – A once-feared Shiite militia that was crippled two years ago by defections and a U.S.-Iraqi crackdown has quietly started to regroup, adding street muscle to the Shiite party that emerged strongest from Iraq's parliamentary elections.
The revival of the Mahdi Army, loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, could be an ominous sign. An al-Sadr spokesman says the force is gearing up to ensure U.S. forces stick to a Dec. 31, 2011 deadline to withdraw from the country — threatening attacks on American troops if they stay past the date.
In the near-term, Sunnis fear the militia will turn its firepower against their community in vengeance after an uptick in militant violence against Shiites in recent months, a move that could revive the fierce sectarian bloodshed that nearly tore the nation apart in 2006 and 2007.
Al-Sadr disbanded the militia in 2008. But his spokesman, Salah al-Obeidi, told The Associated Press that it has now officially been revived.
The militia's armed wing, called the "Promised Day Brigade," will "prepare quietly to launch qualitative attacks against the occupiers (U.S. forces) if they stay beyond 2011," he said. "It will have a big role to play to drive them out of Iraq."
The revival of the Mahdi Army, loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, could be an ominous sign. An al-Sadr spokesman says the force is gearing up to ensure U.S. forces stick to a Dec. 31, 2011 deadline to withdraw from the country — threatening attacks on American troops if they stay past the date.
In the near-term, Sunnis fear the militia will turn its firepower against their community in vengeance after an uptick in militant violence against Shiites in recent months, a move that could revive the fierce sectarian bloodshed that nearly tore the nation apart in 2006 and 2007.
Al-Sadr disbanded the militia in 2008. But his spokesman, Salah al-Obeidi, told The Associated Press that it has now officially been revived.
The militia's armed wing, called the "Promised Day Brigade," will "prepare quietly to launch qualitative attacks against the occupiers (U.S. forces) if they stay beyond 2011," he said. "It will have a big role to play to drive them out of Iraq."