'Sadr follows clerics' orders'

2008-04-07 20:05

Najaf - Iraq's hardline leader Moqtada al-Sadr will disband his feared Mahdi Army militia if leading Shi'ite clerics order him to do so, an aide to Sadr told AFP on Monday.

"The Mahdi Army receives orders from Sadr and from the highest religious clerics whom he consults. If these clerics ask him to disband Jaish al-Mahdi (Mahdi Army) for sure the order will be obeyed," said Salah al-Obeidi, spokesperson for Sadr in the holy city of Najaf.

Obeidi added, however, that he had "no idea" whether Sadr had initiated any talks in this regard with the clerics.

The latest comment from the Sadr group comes after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki threatened in an interview with US television network CNN to ban the movement from participating in elections unless the Mahdi Army was dissolved.

The Mahdi Army and Iraqi forces along with US troops have been involved in fierce clashes since March 25 after Maliki ordered a crackdown on Shi'ite militiamen in the southern city of Basra.

Sadr group has the country's most powerful militia with an estimated 60 000 fighters.

The Mahdi Army has been accused by the US military of killing Sunni Arabs in sectarian strife that erupted across Iraq after an attack on a Shi'ite shrine in the city of Samarra in February 2006.

- AFP