seruriermarshal
05-29-2004, 02:40 PM
'Terrorists' lead Sadr militia
From correspondents in Najaf, Iraq
29may04
THE militia of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is led by former loyalists of ousted president Saddam Hussein and "terrorists", a spokesman for one of Iraq's main Shi'ite parties said today.
"The leadership of the Mehdi Army has been infiltrated by Baathists and terrorists and we have a list of their names," Sheikh Qassem al-Hashimi, of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), told reporters.
"This group planned the assassination attempt against Sayed (honorific) Saddredin al-Kubbanji yesterday and it is the same group that killed Sayed Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim and Sayed Abdul Majid al-Khoei."
Kubbanji, the Najaf-based representative of SCIRI, escaped unscathed an attempt on his life yesterday as he finished giving the weekly sermon at the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf.
Hakim, a founder of SCIRI and its former leader, was killed in a massive car bomb attack at the shrine in August while Khoei, a moderate and prominent cleric, was stabbed to death near the shrine in April 2003.
Sadr, who is holed up in Najaf under the protection of his militia, is wanted by the US-led coalition in Iraqi in connection with Khoei's murder.
From (http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9691570^1702,00.html)
From correspondents in Najaf, Iraq
29may04
THE militia of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is led by former loyalists of ousted president Saddam Hussein and "terrorists", a spokesman for one of Iraq's main Shi'ite parties said today.
"The leadership of the Mehdi Army has been infiltrated by Baathists and terrorists and we have a list of their names," Sheikh Qassem al-Hashimi, of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), told reporters.
"This group planned the assassination attempt against Sayed (honorific) Saddredin al-Kubbanji yesterday and it is the same group that killed Sayed Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim and Sayed Abdul Majid al-Khoei."
Kubbanji, the Najaf-based representative of SCIRI, escaped unscathed an attempt on his life yesterday as he finished giving the weekly sermon at the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf.
Hakim, a founder of SCIRI and its former leader, was killed in a massive car bomb attack at the shrine in August while Khoei, a moderate and prominent cleric, was stabbed to death near the shrine in April 2003.
Sadr, who is holed up in Najaf under the protection of his militia, is wanted by the US-led coalition in Iraqi in connection with Khoei's murder.
From (http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9691570^1702,00.html)