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04/29/2004 Archived Entry: "Mystery group wage war on Sadr's militia"

Posted by steve @ 04:24 PM EST [Link]

TURN ABOUT IS FAIR PLAY: It seems Muqtada al-Sadr has a new problem: an underground group that's been killing his militia in Najaf.

For every day that the United States army fails to act on its threat to crush them, the Shiite militiamen of the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have grown in confidence in their stronghold in Najaf.

Now, however, a shadowy resistance movement within might be about to succeed where the 2,500 US marines outside the city have failed.

In a deadly expression of feelings that until now were kept quiet, a group representing local residents is said to have killed at least five militiamen in the last four days.

The murders are the first sign of organised Iraqi opposition to Sadr’s presence and come amid simmering discontent at the havoc their lawless presence has wreaked.

The group calls itself the Thulfiqar Army, after a twin-bladed sword said to be used by the Shiite martyr Imam Ali, to whom Najaf’s vast central mosque is dedicated.

Residents say leaflets bearing that name have been circulated in the city in the last week, urging Sadr’s al-Mahdi army to leave immediately or face imminent death.

I'd be cheering if I didn't think this was enough to create the potential of mass sectarian violence.

Read on.