DOI 28 April 2008
NYT (BAGHDAD) - The latest episode in the struggle between the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr and and the Iraqi government unfolded Sunday, 27 April 2008 on the streets of Sadr city, where member of Parliament demonstrated peacefully as while clashes occurred a few blocks away. The mix of peaceful protest and armed attacks is characteristic of the many levels on which the Sadr movement and the government are locked in an all-out fight for political advantage. At stake is the outcome of October 2008 provincial elections in which other Shiite parties in the government stand to lose seats to Mr. Sadr’s supporters. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/world/middleeast/28iraq.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
(Reliability: 8.5)
Comment: Most of the members of Parliament who were demonstrating were not members of the warring Shiite factions; instead they were lobbying to improve the deplorable living conditions in Sadr City, a Baghdad suburb controlled by Moktada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. American forces have been fighting militiamen there for over a month, resulting in the cessation of basic municipal services such as garbage pickup.
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