Al-Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran, said he had tried to defuse tensions last August by declaring a unilateral truce, only to see the government respond by closing his offices and "resorting to assassinations."
"So I am giving my final warning ... to the Iraqi government ... to take the path of peace and abandon violence against its people," al-Sadr said. "If the government does not refrain ... we will declare an open war until liberation."
The threat was on his web site. So maybe this is just a flame war.
Certainly, with Mookie interrupting his studies in Iran to make scary statements, you can be sure he's getting his butt kicked somewhere.
Well, the same article notes:
In Basra, Iraq's second largest city about 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, Iraqi soldiers backed by British troops pushed their way into Hayaniyah, the local stronghold of al-Sadr's Mahdi militia. ...
Lt. Gen. Ali Ghaidan said he expected the whole area to be secured by Sunday. He said troops had detained a number of suspects but refused to give details until the area was cleared.
The fighting in both Basra and Baghdad is part of a campaign by al-Maliki, a Shiite, to break the power of Shiite militias, especially al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, and improve security in southern Iraq before provincial elections this fall.
So Iraqi forces are breaking up Sadr's stronghold in Basra and the operations against the Shia thugs continues in Sadr City.
Does anyone in Iraq pay attention any more to Sadr's empty threats?
All I can say is that if Sadr does order an open rebellion, I hope he returns to Iraq to personally lead it. So we can kill him, of course.
UPDATE: Secretary Rice mocked Sadr:
Rice, in the Iraqi capital to tout security gains and what she calls an emerging political consensus, said al-Sadr is content to issue threats and edicts from the safety of Iran, where he is studying. Al-Sadr heads an unruly militia that was the main target of an Iraqi government assault in the oil-rich city of Basra last month, and his future role as a spoiler is an open question.
"I know he's sitting in Iran," Rice said dismissively, when asked about al-Sadr's latest threat to lift a self-imposed cease-fire with government and U.S. forces. "I guess it's all-out war for anybody but him," Rice said. "I guess that's the message; his followers can go too their deaths and he's in Iran."
Now this is diplomatic language I can appreciate. As much as I might wish it, I think that Sadr isn't so stupid as to return to Iraq where we will kill him if he tries for an open revolt against the government of Iraq.
