The holiday, when pilgrims trek to the sacred city of Karbala, coincided with new criticism of the Iraqi government and parliament from both a leading Shiite party that until now has backed the government and from a former political ally, anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. He signaled that he might allow his militia to become active at the end of February after a year-long freeze. If Mr. Sadr lifted the freeze, it could have troubling consequences for the American military, which has been able to use the calm to focus on those Shiite insurgents, most of whom it believes are linked to Iran, who have ignored the freeze. The Americans have also used the calm to stabilize Sunni and mixed neighborhoods in the Baghdad area. Since the freeze the number of bodies found daily in Baghdad neighborhoods as a result of sectarian killings has dropped to barely three after months of dozens being found.
Mr. Sadr’s spokesman, Saleh al-Obaidi, said that in several provinces Mr. Sadr’s militia had been unfairly targeted and that many had been detained but not charged by members of the Iraqi security forces. However, he said no final decision had yet been made to lift the freeze. “Many officers in the Iraqi police and Army and have made bad use of the freeze to pressure our people and hundreds of families have been pushed out of their homes,” said Mr. Obeidi. “We’ve been thinking of renewing the freeze. We understand the situation, we are in a period of trying to rebuild Iraq and bring more security, but unfortunately our people are suffering.”