The mayor also told al-'Arabiya that the relatives of al-Janabi insist on not repairing or rebuilding the family house, in which the crime occurred, “so that the home remains a testament to the criminality and savagery of the American forces.”
Four US soldiers are currently under trial for the rape and murder of al-Janabi and her family members in 2006.
Al-Hayat said that officials in the Sadr Current have criticized the Iranian role in southern Iraq, in what may be another attempt by Muqtada to distance his Current from the Islamic Republic.
In the past weeks, Muqtada al-Sadr has been attempting to gather Sunni support for his movement, and to extend political alliances with Sunni parties. In order to deflect a reputation he had acquired as “Iran’s man” in Iraq, al-Sadr has made a point of critiquing Iranian intervention in the country and asserting his commitment to notions of Iraqi sovereignty.
According to al-Hayat, a high-level aide to al-Sadr, Aws al-Khafaji, accused Iran of becoming a “strategic depth for al-Qa'ida in Iraq,” and claimed that “its intelligence is implicated in acts of sabotage in the Iraqi South.” Al-Khafaji said that the Iranian intelligence has established an “operations room,” led by an officer by the name of Muhammad Taqawi, “charged with the planning and execution of armed attacks” in the southern provinces.
Al-Khafaji added that the Iranian apparatus “has attracted a large number of the leaders of the (state) security agencies” and that Ittila'at (the Iranian intelligence service) has been “providing information for al-Qa'ida” for its operations in southern and central Iraq.
Iraqi newspapers relayed an interview that the Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki gave to Newsweek, in which he requested that the US Army desists from arming tribal militias in the Sunni provinces to fight al-Qa'ida.
The Iraqi government was, at one point, actively involved in the arming of Sunni tribes in Anbar. The government’s newspaper published several op-eds praising the tribes for their role in fighting al-Qa'ida, and al-Maliki made a visit to Ramadi in order to meet with the leaders of the tribal “Anbar Salvation Council” to express his support for their efforts.
However, al-Maliki’s posture changed with his realization that the Sunni tribes are intent on using US support to build their own militias, following the model of pro-government Shi'a organizations, which could produce severe “unintended consequences” for the government in the future. Al-Maliki said that any arming of the tribes should be done with the supervision of the government, and that efforts should be made to ascertain that those receiving weapons and support are not linked to insurgents.
Lastly, al-Hayat published a statement by the Islamic Army, in which the insurgent group announced that the truce it had announced with al-Qa'ida is still in effect. The statement also reasserted the Islamic Army’s opposition to any negotiations with the US Army or the Iraqi Government -– whom it called “the midgets of the occupation."
The armed group also said that it instructed its members not to hold talks with representatives of the US or the Iraqi governments, announcing its determination to fight until “final victory.”
These reports come to discredit earlier claims by Iraqi politicians, chiefly Iyad 'Allawi, who had alleged to be involved in negotiations with insurgent groups wishing to join the political process. The statement, however, did not deny that some of its members may have engaged in such talks, but the communiqué said that such actions would be “individual” and “unlawful,” adding that those involved will be prosecuted by the group’s “legal court.”
