According to al-Hayat, the local authorities in Karbala have closed off the main roads leading into the city, preventing outsiders from entering the town. The paper added that local security forces have asked the city’s residents to remain in their homes, “to avoid being fired at by the gunmen who hide among houses,” in reference to the Sadr militia. Al-Jazeera published photos of Sadr supporters touring the streets of Karbala in motorcades brandishing photos of Muqtada al-Sadr and Iraqi flags.
In the midst of the confrontations, political accusations are being exchanged, and both parties are accusing each other of “implementing Iranian plans.” The Sadr movement accuses the local security forces in southern cities of being an unofficial armed wing of the Badr militia, the military organization of al-Hakeem’s Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council; and charge that the police is attempting to liquidate Sadrist leaders in order to further the political agenda of the SIIC.
Karbala’s vice-governor, Jawad al-Hasnawi, who is a member of the Sadrist Current interpreted the situation as follows: “the southern cities are witnessing the implementation of an agenda, conceived and financed by a neighboring country, to uproot the Arab patriotic current, represented by Arab Shi'a who refuse the partition of Iraq under the name of federalism.” The insinuations of al-Hasnawi are not difficult to decipher, the “neighboring country” is Iran, and the Sadrist leader is hinting that the pro-federalism strategy of the SIIC is backed by Iran, which wishes to see the emergence of a pro-Iranian Shi'a state in oil-rich southern Iraq.
However, the SIIC and the local police are charging that the Sadr Current is, in fact, the Iranian tool. Al-Hayat quoted the Karbala police chief, Ra’id Jawdat (pro-SIIC) who pointed that the Mahdi Army has been using Iranian-made weapons in its operations. Jawdat claimed that the 170mm Katyusha missiles fired by the Sadrists during the recent confrontations were made in Iran. The question remains: who does Iran support is the ongoing Shi'a-Shi'a conflict?
Moving to Basra, where clashes between Sadrists and the police have been ongoing for days, al-Hayat said that Mahdi Army operatives have taken over a central police station controlling Basra’s entrance; which is proof that the Sadrists are furthering their hold over Iraq’s second-largest city. The paper also said that Sadrists have established roadblocks and are on the lookout for police cars and personnel, after several officers were allegedly arrested by Mahdi Army activists.
Conversely, Kul al-'Iraq interviewed Basra’s police chief, who claimed that the confrontations in the city have ended, and that the situation is currently “stable.” Brigadier Khalaf claimed that the entire incident was caused by the use of unregistered cars by Sadrists, who were intercepted by the police and arrested. The cars in question had shaded windows, which is not permitted by Iraqi laws. Khalaf also claimed that no victims fell in the ranks of the police, and that the reports claiming that policemen were arrested by the Sadrists were untrue.
In other news, Az-Zaman and al-Mada reported that Turkish airplanes are now executing air raids deep inside Iraqi territories (Al-Mada said that the Turkish airforce is conducting operations 40 Kilometers inside Iraq, while Az-Zaman claimed, quoting security officials, that Turkish F-16s have bombed Targets 80 Miles inside the country.)
Lastly, al-Mada published a letter by the Iraqi vice-President, 'Adil 'Abd al-Mahdi, in response to the project of the “National Contract” proposed by the Islamic Party and Tariq al-Hashimi. 'Abd al-Mahdi’s article took the form of an open letter directed to al-Hashimi, in which he delimited the points of agreement and differences between his party (the SIIC) and the vision of the Islamic Party.
Most of the letter centered on what 'Abd al-Mahdi sees to be the most contentious issue regarding Iraq’s future: the question of federalism and the future shape of Iraq. Knowing that the Islamic Party views federalism with suspicion, the Vice President explained, at length, why he (and his party) view a federal Iraq to be the only viable form of political organization for the country.
After the “exception” of the Kurdistan Region was accepted, 'Abd al-Mahdi argued, Iraq will “lack balance” if Kurdistan remains the only autonomous Region while the rest of the country is composed of provinces. The creation of new Regions could take several shapes, 'Abd al-Mahdi said, but Iraq cannot remain a central state, since such an arrangement, he argued, would produce either an authoritarian government or a “democratic government that is not based on consociationalism,” a solution that “will be rejected by Sunnis and Kurds.”
'Abd al-Mahdi’s argument is, in effect, a veiled threat to Sunnis who reject federalism, the implication being that, if Sunni rejectionism persists, a Shi'a majority (supposedly led by pro-federalism parties) would use democratic means to pass its project regardless of Sunni opposition.
