Basha'ir Al-Salam

"Operations in Amara has so far gone smoothly, solely because of cooperation by the Sadrist Movement. There has been a clear shift in their policy in recent weeks. A senior Sadrist, big mouthed Baha Al-A'raji, warned the Iraqi government before operations in Sadr City began that "we will be ready for war" but now, when the Iraqi government is doing the very same thing in Amara i.e ridding the city of illegal weapons, his statement is a lot less threatening. He forced himself to say "we stand with the Government on imposing the law and we are showing goodwill". Adding that it is on the condition that the law must be imposed on everyone and not just the Sadrists.

In Amara, Iraqi troops have arrested Abdul Jabbar, the deputy governor of Maysan, a Sadrist who is one of around two dozen men on the wanted list that have been detained by the security forces since the start of the operation on Thursday morning. Abdul Jabbar is believed to be the one doing all the donkey work to get weapons sent from Iran into the hands of the Mehdi Army. Baha Al-A'raji's brother Hazem, also a Sadrist, explained that Abdul Jabbar was a good man and was arrested for no reason. According to the head of the National Command Center, five of the wanted men turned themselves in to the security forces, the others who were hunted down did not put up a fight and no one has resisted the Iraqi troops."
Eye Raki