Five British citizens held by rogue Sadr militia?

Who took the four British security guards and one civilian contractor hostage? General David Petraeus believes "it is the same network that killed our soldiers in Karbala in an operation back in January." Petraeus also believes "the kidnappers were part of a cell attached to the Mahdi army headed by the fundamentalist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr" and trained by Iran. (The Telegraph)

Moqtada al-Sadr claims this group is a rogue JAM group, no longer associated with him and not under his control. He claims to have no connections to Iran. In fact, he tells sources he wants no connection to Iran, who view Iraqi Shiites as 'black sheep' of Shiites. Sources also say there are 'too many Iranians in Sadr City for comfort.' I'll leave you to make your own decisions as to Sadr. Either way, he wants a roll in Iraq's future.

I can say with certainty, if it is proven Sadr, or his men, had any connections to the Americans or the British kidnapping and/or deaths, there will be no safe place for Sadr to hide.

Gen David Petraeus said he believed that the four security guards and civilian contractor were still alive. He said his troops were working hard to free them.

Speaking of the unit responsible for the kidnap, Gen Petraeus told The Times: "They are trained in Iran, equipped with Iranian [weapons], and advised by Iran.

"The Iranian involvement here we have found to be much, much more significant than we thought before. They have, since about the summer of 2004, played a very, very important role in training in Iran, funding, arming." [snip]

The head of US forces in Iraq said he believed the kidnappers were part of a cell attached to the Mahdi army headed by the fundamentalist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

"We think that it is the same network that killed our soldiers in Karbala in an operation back in January," he said. "We killed the head of that network less than a week before the operation that detained those British civilians. It was already planned and carried out by his followers."

Freedom Now has a great article on Sadr, "The Traitor Who Would Be King."

In April of 2004 an Iranian intelligence agent who defected to England, Haj Sa’idi, revealed that the Mahdi Army received extensive training from Iran.

The Middle East Media Research Institute cited an article in which Sa’idi “estimated that about 800 - 1,200 young supporters of Al-Sadr have received military training including guerilla warfare, the production of bombs and explosives, the use of small arms, reconnoitering and espionage. The three camps were located in Qasr Shireen, ‘Ilam, and Hamid, bordering southern Iraq which is inhabited largely by Shi’a Muslims.” (more)

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Comments

[Albrecht Gero Muth]

Debbie:

Just a correction on a couple of points. It is incorrect to state that JAM or Sadrist do not have contacts with Iran, or would not want contacts with Iran. It is correct that contacts have been curtailed and that the Hoyatoleslam has asserted the independence of JAM and the Sadrist Movement vis-a-vis Iran. Furthermore, Sadrists are on record as sating that an alliance with Iran is not the preferred option, as we exoplore potential scope and dimension of the "poltiical arrangement," Vice President Cheney is contemplating.

There is, at this hour, no military cooperation between JAM and the Armed Services of teh Islamic Republic of Iran. To the contrary, the increasing infiltration of JAM by special operations cells of the Revolutionary Guard of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been redressed. Towards that end, on repeated occasion, in ongoing military operations, has actionable tactical intel been ,ade available to the Iraqi security services.

As to the five Britons, being held captive, I would like to affirm that they are not being held by units of JAM under the control of the Hoyatoleslam. For two weeks now, we have been working very hard on helping Iraqi security forces identify the captors, locate their whereabouts and free the hostages. While we have begun to zero in on the captors, the release of the Britons has, so far, eluded us.

I would like to affirm that the Hoyatoleslam, who views the Sadrist Movement as a fusion between the Indian independence movement and the American civil rights movement, does not condone violence, nor does he condone the use of violence in response to violence. As, yet again, he made clear in his statement, immediately following last week's Samarra bombings. Tolerance, Conciliation, Unity and Peace. Those are the watchwords of the Sadrist Movement. My own writings in Right Truth reference in this regard. Points, which will, yet again, be made at Samarra on the Day of National Mourning on 7 July.

Best regards,

(Signed) Albrecht Gero Muth
BAGHDAD, Iraq

[Maggie M. Thornton]

I'm with Butch.

Maggie
Maggie's Notebook

[Maggie M. Thornton]

"Proving" something these days is as difficult as finding the needle in the hay stack. We find weapons with identifiers tied to Iran, and sometime Russia - but it isn't enough. It is so frustrating. Just when I think, okay, we've got them - nope, the issue dies and the next thing you know they're looking for more proof.

If Iraq lets this hoodlum BACK in the government, well...do they deserve what they get...or don't get?

Maggie
Maggie's Notebook

[Butch]

I firmly believe that Sadr should be pushing up daisies...