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Allawi and al-Sadr flip-flopping more than Kerry?
EFL; what the hell is going on:The militant Shiite cleric whose uprising last April left hundreds dead pledged Sunday to resist "oppression and occupation" and called the new interim Iraqi government "illegitimate." Muqtada al-Sadr made the declaration in a statement distributed by his office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, where his al-Mahdi militia battled American troops until a cease-fire last month. "We pledge to the Iraqi people and the world to continue resisting oppression and occupation to our last drop of blood," al-Sadr said. "Resistance is a legitimate right and not a crime to be punished." Hereâs Allawiâs half of this, after the amnesty debacle ... It was unclear what prompted his apparent reversal, though al-Sadr has made contradictory statements in the past. Earlier Sunday, Allawi told ABCâs "This Week" that he had met with al-Sadr representatives "who want to try and mediate. The position of the government is very clear. There is no room for any militias to operate inside Iraq. Anything outside law and order is not tolerated, cannot be tolerated. The rule of law should prevail. Every one of us, every individual, starting from the president downward should be answerable to the law." And hereâs that amnesty debacle ... Allawiâs government is expected to announce a package of initiatives to combat the insurgency, including limited emergency rule and an amnesty offer. Allawiâs spokesman, Georges Sada, suggested Saturday that guerrillas who fought the Americans before the sovereignty transfer could be eligible because they had taken legitimate acts of resistance. However, the deputy prime minister for national security, Bahram Saleh, told CNNâs "Late Edition" he found the comment "very surprising to have come from a spokesman for the prime minister." Saleh confirmed the Cabinet was discussing an amnesty offer and was deliberating how to give "people an opportunity to reintegrate within society" while at the same time "remaining firm against people who have committed atrocities and have committed crimes against the people of Iraq and against the coalition forces that have come to help us overcome tyranny."
Posted by: Edward Yee 2004-07-05 |
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