With calm restored, Iraqis ask 'Who won?'
Apr. 1, 2008
Leila Fadel - McClatchy NewspapersIssue date: 3/27/08 Section: MCT News
BAGHDAD _ Relative calm settled over Basra, neighboring provinces and Baghdad on Monday as a ceasefire took hold after nearly a week of pitched fighting between the Mahdi Army militia of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Iraqi government forces.
In Basra, people began to venture out of their homes again as Iraqi soldiers and police resumed street patrols and Mahdi Army militants hid their weapons and went home. Tankers of water and trucks of food were allowed into the city as people slowly ventured to the market to restock their empty cupboards.
In Baghdad, the government lifted a curfew that had been imposed in much of the city, traffic returned to the city's streets, and there were few reports of actual fighting.
But the situation appeared unsettled. Mortar and rocket fire continued to rain down on the heavily fortified Green Zone, where American officials remained under orders not to travel except in armored vehicles or sleep anywhere but hardened buildings.
A curfew remained in effect in the Baghdad Mahdi Army strongholds of Sadr City, Kadhemiya and Shoala. U.S. and Iraqi troops continued to surround Sadr City.
In Basra, government officials said they would pursue wanted Mahdi Army gunmen, while Mahdi Army officials said they would wait and see how the government acted.
"From our side we complied with Muqtada al-Sadr's initiative," said Harith al Athari, an al-Sadr official in Basra. "But the coordination with the government is not clear ... on the ground we have raids and arrests and we can't say our final opinion."
Government officials said they still had detention orders against 280 militiamen and denied that Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki had miscalculated in trying to push the Mahdi Army from its strongholds.
"There is no change in our path, no negotiations from the government side," Maliki adviser Sadiq al Rikabi said.
But few others, from foreign analysts to Basra residents, saw the end of the fighting as a victory for Maliki, who'd said repeatedly that he would not negotiate with Mahdi Army militants. Many saw the role of an Iranian general in brokering the ceasefire that al-Sadr declared on Sunday as a clear sign that Maliki had badly miscalculated.
In Basra, people began to venture out of their homes again as Iraqi soldiers and police resumed street patrols and Mahdi Army militants hid their weapons and went home. Tankers of water and trucks of food were allowed into the city as people slowly ventured to the market to restock their empty cupboards.
In Baghdad, the government lifted a curfew that had been imposed in much of the city, traffic returned to the city's streets, and there were few reports of actual fighting.
But the situation appeared unsettled. Mortar and rocket fire continued to rain down on the heavily fortified Green Zone, where American officials remained under orders not to travel except in armored vehicles or sleep anywhere but hardened buildings.
A curfew remained in effect in the Baghdad Mahdi Army strongholds of Sadr City, Kadhemiya and Shoala. U.S. and Iraqi troops continued to surround Sadr City.
In Basra, government officials said they would pursue wanted Mahdi Army gunmen, while Mahdi Army officials said they would wait and see how the government acted.
"From our side we complied with Muqtada al-Sadr's initiative," said Harith al Athari, an al-Sadr official in Basra. "But the coordination with the government is not clear ... on the ground we have raids and arrests and we can't say our final opinion."
Government officials said they still had detention orders against 280 militiamen and denied that Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki had miscalculated in trying to push the Mahdi Army from its strongholds.
"There is no change in our path, no negotiations from the government side," Maliki adviser Sadiq al Rikabi said.
But few others, from foreign analysts to Basra residents, saw the end of the fighting as a victory for Maliki, who'd said repeatedly that he would not negotiate with Mahdi Army militants. Many saw the role of an Iranian general in brokering the ceasefire that al-Sadr declared on Sunday as a clear sign that Maliki had badly miscalculated.
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