Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (43862)	8/19/2004 12:18:26 PM
From: ChinuSFO	Respond to of 81568

Iraq: Militant Groups United By Common Enemy – Fallujah militias to train and cooperate with Najaf militias? Sunny Chopra, Special Correspondent August 19, 2004 <font size=3> According to Startfor – a think-tank in US, Al Fallujah guerrilla commanders met with radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr in An Najaf to discuss cooperating against U.S. forces Aug. 18. The most likely form of cooperation would be transferring the Al Fallujah militants' skill and experience to the numerous -- but untrained -- members of al-Sadr's Mehdi Army. What does this mean for US military? United militant groups can start coordinated operations. Today Najaf is engulfed in military operations. Interesting things are happening. Al-Sadr is promising to stop all violations and leave Najaf Mosque. But then what is this meeting about between Najaf and Fallujah militants? Radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced Wednesday his militia would leave the Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf, following a threat by the Iraqi government to "liberate" the holy site. In a letter issued by al-Sadr's office in Baghdad and read to the Iraqi National Conference, the cleric said he agreed to demands made Tuesday night by a delegation from the conference that he and his forces leave the mosque, disband his Mehdi Army and "enter into the mainstream political process." Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Iraqi leaders attending the conference in Baghdad picked a 100-person council to advise and oversee the interim government, the caretaker body running Iraq until a transitional national assembly is elected in January. The Iraqi Defense Ministry said late Wednesday it was surprised to hear of al-Sadr's apparent concession, since the cleric refused to meet with the eight-person delegation sent to Najaf in a bid to resolve the two-week standoff between militia fighters and U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces. The delegation spent three hours at the Imam Ali mosque Tuesday night without seeing al-Sadr and returned to Baghdad early Wednesday. Peacemaking efforts over the weekend also failed. indiadaily.com