Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki denies rumors that there is judicial order out for the arrest of Muqtada al-Sadr.
Speaking in Karbala Wednesday, the PM said “There is no order for the arrest of Sayid Muqtada al-Sadr at the present time in relation with the Baghdad security plan,” according to an Aswat al-Iraq report.
In a press conference in front of the Karbala Province administrative building, Maliki also referred to reports that Sadr has gone to Iran “illogical,” saying the story was “unrealistic” and “couldn’t be accepted.”
Rumors are circulating that an arrest order is out for al-Sadr in connection with the 2003 Najaf killing of Shi`a cleric Abd al-Majid al-Khoei in the weeks following the US occupation of the country. Maliki denies these assertions as well, saying, “I have not heard of anything like this order, and if there is anything related to an arrest order for Sayid Muqtada from other authorities . . . we have not heard of it.”
On their part, American officials continue to insist that Sadr is in Iran. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell insisted in a press conference in Iraq today that the US is "tracking Moqtada al-Sadr very closely" without providing details, except to say that "all indications" were that Sadr had been in Iran since last month.
Sadrist officials are consistent in their response to several media outlets, including IraqSlogger, al-Jazeera, and Aswat al-Iraq: Sadr is not in Iran, they claim, and they will not reveal details of his whereabouts in Iraq. IraqSlogger has been unable to verify rumors that Sadr is in Najaf.
