.Some Consider Death Squad Leader a Hero
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - When U.S. and Iraqi forces swept into Baghdad's Sadr City slum this week, they were unsuccessfully chasing one of the most dangerous men in the city - a rogue Shiite militiaman who is a hero to his fighters and a feared killer to the capital's Sunni population.
Two of the wanted man's neighbors said the Mahdi Army militia commander, known as Abu Diraa, Arabic for Father of the Shield, is actually Ismail al-Lami, the father of at least a dozen children from two marriages. One of his children, a teenager called Haidar, was wounded in the pre-dawn raid Wednesday.
Short, muscular, bearded and with a darker skin than most Iraqis, Abu Diraa cannot read or write and once earned a living as a fishmonger. Like many fellow Sadr City residents, the death squad leader hails from the southern province of Maysan.
"If he had some education, he would have made a good leader. He is brave and serious," said Amer al-Husseini, a Shiite cleric and a senior Baghdad aide of radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the spiritual leader of the Mahdi Army.
It was believed to have been the second raid in the tumbledown district of 2.5 million to target Abu Diraa. The first, in August, prompted Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to condemn the operation.
Al-Maliki also issued a bitter protest about Wednesday's raid, in which Iraqi and U.S. forces killed 10 militia fighters and captured 10 others. The Iraqi leader relies heavily on al-Sadr's political support.
The Bush administration and the U.S. military are exerting heavy pressure on al-Maliki to crush both the Mahdi Army and its rival, the Badr Brigade, the armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which is also a key part of the prime minister's ruling coalition.
The two militias are thought to have been consumed in a revenge killing spree against Sunni Muslims since the February bombing of a Shiite shrine north of Baghdad.
Shiite death squads have roamed Baghdad and nearby cities and towns torturing and killing Sunnis by the thousands. Sunni insurgent fighters have fought back viciously, as violence in the center of the country has taken on the look of civil war.
It was believed to have been the second raid in the tumbledown district of 2.5 million to target Abu Diraa. The first, in August, prompted Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to condemn the operation.
Al-Maliki also issued a bitter protest about Wednesday's raid, in which Iraqi and U.S. forces killed 10 militia fighters and captured 10 others. The Iraqi leader relies heavily on al-Sadr's political support.
The Bush administration and the U.S. military are exerting heavy pressure on al-Maliki to crush both the Mahdi Army and its rival, the Badr Brigade, the armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which is also a key part of the prime minister's ruling coalition.
The two militias are thought to have been consumed in a revenge killing spree against Sunni Muslims since the February bombing of a Shiite shrine north of Baghdad.
Shiite death squads have roamed Baghdad and nearby cities and towns torturing and killing Sunnis by the thousands. Sunni insurgent fighters have fought back viciously, as violence in the center of the country has taken on the look of civil war.
MyWay
Two of the wanted man's neighbors said the Mahdi Army militia commander, known as Abu Diraa, Arabic for Father of the Shield, is actually Ismail al-Lami, the father of at least a dozen children from two marriages. One of his children, a teenager called Haidar, was wounded in the pre-dawn raid Wednesday.
Short, muscular, bearded and with a darker skin than most Iraqis, Abu Diraa cannot read or write and once earned a living as a fishmonger. Like many fellow Sadr City residents, the death squad leader hails from the southern province of Maysan.
"If he had some education, he would have made a good leader. He is brave and serious," said Amer al-Husseini, a Shiite cleric and a senior Baghdad aide of radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the spiritual leader of the Mahdi Army.
It was believed to have been the second raid in the tumbledown district of 2.5 million to target Abu Diraa. The first, in August, prompted Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to condemn the operation.
Al-Maliki also issued a bitter protest about Wednesday's raid, in which Iraqi and U.S. forces killed 10 militia fighters and captured 10 others. The Iraqi leader relies heavily on al-Sadr's political support.
The Bush administration and the U.S. military are exerting heavy pressure on al-Maliki to crush both the Mahdi Army and its rival, the Badr Brigade, the armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which is also a key part of the prime minister's ruling coalition.
The two militias are thought to have been consumed in a revenge killing spree against Sunni Muslims since the February bombing of a Shiite shrine north of Baghdad.
Shiite death squads have roamed Baghdad and nearby cities and towns torturing and killing Sunnis by the thousands. Sunni insurgent fighters have fought back viciously, as violence in the center of the country has taken on the look of civil war.
It was believed to have been the second raid in the tumbledown district of 2.5 million to target Abu Diraa. The first, in August, prompted Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to condemn the operation.
Al-Maliki also issued a bitter protest about Wednesday's raid, in which Iraqi and U.S. forces killed 10 militia fighters and captured 10 others. The Iraqi leader relies heavily on al-Sadr's political support.
The Bush administration and the U.S. military are exerting heavy pressure on al-Maliki to crush both the Mahdi Army and its rival, the Badr Brigade, the armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which is also a key part of the prime minister's ruling coalition.
The two militias are thought to have been consumed in a revenge killing spree against Sunni Muslims since the February bombing of a Shiite shrine north of Baghdad.
Shiite death squads have roamed Baghdad and nearby cities and towns torturing and killing Sunnis by the thousands. Sunni insurgent fighters have fought back viciously, as violence in the center of the country has taken on the look of civil war.
MyWay
posted by madtom at 3:45 PM
1 Comments:
I fixed that hours ago, refresh you page
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