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Article: Iraq's Sadr uses lull to rebuild Army.(WORLD)(Moqtada al-Sadr, Mahdi Army)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- December 11, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Sam Dagher Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
Karbala, Iraq -- For more than three months, the Mahdi Army has been largely silent. The potent, black-clad Iraqi Shiite force put down its guns in late August at the behest of Moqtada al-Sadr.
The move has bolstered improved security in Baghdad, even though the US says some Mahdi Army splinter groups that it calls "criminals" or "extremists" have not heeded Mr. Sadr's freeze.
Away from public view, however, Sadr's top aides say the anti-American cleric is anything but idle. Instead, he is orchestrating a revival among his army of loyalists entrenched in Baghdad and Shiite ...