Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Al-Sadr aide warns over deteriorating situation in Diwaniyah
Security
(Azzaman) - A senior aide to the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said security conditions in the southern city of Diwaniya were worsening at an alarming rate. Sheikh Haydar, Sadr’s spokesman in the city, warned that “real tragedy is in store for Diwaniya unless the authorities move to save the situation.” Sadr’s political movement and its military wing, the Mahdi Army, are the domineering force in Diwaniya.
The city and the roads leading to it are not safe and there has been a substantial rise in attacks by unidentified gunmen most of them in the form of kidnappings for ransom and assassination. Four civilians were shot and killed in the city in the past 48 hours. The Sadr group is often reported to be implicated in the violence but Haydar said his movement strongly condemned murder and the use of force to solve problems.
Haydar accused U.S. occupation troops of ‘destroying’ Iraqi cities and held them accountable for much of the violence currently taking place in the country. “We call on the national symbols and personalities to quickly move and repair the destruction occupation troops have cause following their invasion of the country,” he said.
Diwaniya, 180 kilometers south of Baghdad, is the administrative capital of the Province of Qadissiya. Located in central Iraq, on a branch of the Euphrates River and on the Baghdad-Basra railroad, it is a marketplace for dates and grains
The city and the roads leading to it are not safe and there has been a substantial rise in attacks by unidentified gunmen most of them in the form of kidnappings for ransom and assassination. Four civilians were shot and killed in the city in the past 48 hours. The Sadr group is often reported to be implicated in the violence but Haydar said his movement strongly condemned murder and the use of force to solve problems.
Haydar accused U.S. occupation troops of ‘destroying’ Iraqi cities and held them accountable for much of the violence currently taking place in the country. “We call on the national symbols and personalities to quickly move and repair the destruction occupation troops have cause following their invasion of the country,” he said.
Diwaniya, 180 kilometers south of Baghdad, is the administrative capital of the Province of Qadissiya. Located in central Iraq, on a branch of the Euphrates River and on the Baghdad-Basra railroad, it is a marketplace for dates and grains
Labels: Diwaniya, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Sheikh Haydar
