Here is a happy update to the story reported yesterday.
Just 24 hours after the capture of 11 Sunni and Shia tribal leaders in northern Baghdad, the Iraqi Army has freed eight of the sheikhs. Meanwhile, Multinational Forces Iraq has identified the Mahdi Army commander responsible for the kidnappings and has begun to name other Mahdi Army leaders as being involved in criminal and insurgent activity.
Iraqi soldiers conducted the raid in a yet-to-be-identified region near Baghdad, likely with the aid of US Special Forces and killed four of the kidnappers. “We have rescued eight of the hostages and are working to free the others. We killed four of the kidnappers,” Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al Askari said.
And the culprits are leftovers from Sadr’s militia, which so far seems to be lukewarm in its commitment to its own ceasefire.
The identification of Hasnawi as a former Mahdi Army commander and leader in the Special Groups is new pattern of releasing the names of Shia terror leaders. In a recent briefing on the Baghdad security operation, Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, the commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, singled out Mahdi Army commanders sheltering in Sadr city by name. Five Mahdi Army commanders were directly named.
“Unfortunately, there are some individuals who are not interested in reconciliation,” Odierno said. “These individuals continue to use violence to incite sectarian hatred for political gain, to promote foreign interests and to achieve personal wealth through criminal activity. They commit extortion, kidnappings, intimidation and murder against the Iraqi people. We are working hard to prevent men who do this, such as Arkhan Asnawi, Nasr Anad al-Masawi, Haji Duwad, Ahmed Atu, Abu Bolil, and Haji Mahti from seeking sanctuary within Sadr City. They have not honored the ceasefire announced by Muqtada al Sadr. And they only bring harm to the people of Sadr City.”
Hopefully the local population will turn against the violent element as they have in the Sunni provinces. It would go a long way to combating the Iranian meddling that we’ve seen heavily in the South.
Others on this: Sister Toldjah | Gateway Pundit | Wake up America | QandO | The Belmont Club |
