Saturday, February 17, 2007
Talabani speaks out on al-Sadr and security plan
Politics, Security
(RFE/RL) President Jalal Talabani told reporters at a February 15 press briefing in Baghdad that the security plan will yield successful results as the weeks progress, state-run Al-Iraqiyah television reported on February 16. Talabani praised the work of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, saying al-Maliki "behaved as an Iraqi who rises above personal inclinations and tendencies."
Asked about the whereabouts of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Talabani said he doesn't have definitive information. "But I think that several influential officials in the Al-Mahdi Army were ordered to leave Iraq. I think they were ordered to do so by [al-Sadr] himself in order to facilitate the government's mission of implementing the Baghdad security plan." Talabani later quoted al-Sadr's aides as saying the cleric is eager to see the security plan succeed, adding that al-Sadr "gave the government the go-ahead to arrest every violator who breaks the law.... Hence, I think that Muqtada al-Sadr's stand is positive and very good," Talabani said.
Labels: al-Maliki, Moqtada Al-Sadr, security plan, Talabani
