Sadr Did Not Refer Dissolving al-Mahdi Army to Top Shiite Clerics

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Najaf, Apr 7, 2008 (VOI) - The official spokesman for al-Sadr’s office on Monday denied that Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr had referred the dissolution of al-Mahdi army to Shiite clerics, describing reports in this regard as inaccurate.

"Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr did not think of dissolving al-Mahdi army," Sheikh Salah al-Ubeidi told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI), noting that "we have no right to interfere in freezing or dissolving al-Mahdi army because it is an exclusive right of Muqtada al-Sadr."

Al-Ubeidi had said that any effort to prevent Sadrists from political participation would be unconstitutional.

Al-Mahdi army, the military wing of the Sadrist bloc under Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, was established in July 2003.

Basra province, 590 km south of Baghdad, witnessed six days of bloody armed confrontations between governmental forces and Mahdi Army militia.
Clashes ended when the Shiite leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, ordered his followers to abort "all armed scenes," and to cooperate with governmental forces to impose security and law.

The clashes left 210 gunmen killed and 600 others wounded as well as the arrest of 155 during Operation Saulat al-Foursan (Knights’ Assault), aimed at eliminating all armed groups in the southern Iraqi city.