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Another (last?) chance for Tater
EFL...30 minutes ago [near as I can figure it this would be about 700am EDT today], Hussain Al-Sadr, a moderate cleric and at the same time Muqtada's cousin [I think 3rd cousin] attended the Iraqi National Conference after he news that he visited Najaf yesterday. The conference is having large coverage by Iraqi and Arab media (except poor Al Jazeera as they have no reporter on the ground) In his words, Hussain stressed that there's no place for armed militias in the new Iraq but there's always a chance for everyone to participate in the political process. He called Muqtada and his men to drop their weapons, leave the holy shrine and disband the Mehdi Army adding that guarantees can be provided by the government that there will be no consequences or penalties waiting for them after they evacuate the shrine. He called the attendants to send a delegation of at least a hundred members to head to Najaf and tell Muqtada about this proposal and escort him out of the shrine. There was immediately a vote and the majority agreed on this initiative, so it's expected that the following steps will take steps in a short time, probably later today. the writer goes on to predict that Sadr will refuse to leave Najaf and a final battle will have to be waged anyway Posted by: mhw 2004-08-16 |
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