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A member of Parliament with the Sadrist Current has said that if the arrest of Sadrists continues, it could push matters in the direction of lifting the cease-fire on the Mahdi Army, while Slogger has learned of other high-level frustration with the "freeze" of the powerful militia initiated by Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in August.
In remarks carried on the US-funded Arabic language broadcaster Radio Sawa, MP Salih al-Ukayli said that many of those arrested have not participated in any armed acts, insisting that "they were arrested because they belonged to the Sadrist current."
In Baghdad, across the Iraqi south, and in Diwaniya especially, Sadrist leaders have accused rival parties with influence in the security forces of singling out Sadrists for arrests and assassinations on the basis of political, rather than security, considerations.
On Thursday, Salih al-Ubeidi, the head of the Sadrist media operations, denied reports that Muqtada al-Sadr has issued an order to extend the "freeze" of the Mahdi Army's activities, adding that the Sadrist current is awaiting a decision "in the coming days" from al-Sadr in this matter.
Last week, Muqtada al-Sadr issued a terse order to his followers instructing them to continue observing the orders he issued in August of 2007 to "freeze" all Mahdi Army activities for a period of up to six months. However, this order did not, as some have concluded, signal an extension of the cease-fire period.
However, in recent weeks, high-level officials of the Sadrist current, speaking anonymously, have told IraqSlogger that they are growing impatient with the cease-fire and are lobbying within the current for its lifting, in the face of what they see is a coordinated campaign by US and Iraqi forces against the Sadrists.
It is too early to tell how deeply these divisions may run in the Sadrist Current, but the reported frustration with the Mahdi Army cease-fire in the face of an alleged anti-Sadrist arrest campaign could shed light on the seeming hesitation of Muqtada al-Sadr to offer a clear ruling on the question of extending the "freeze."
Such debates are usually kept internal to the Sadrist current, but al-Ukayli's remarks appear to show that some elements of the Sadrist leadership are advocating a more confrontational position than what Muqtada al-Sadr has articulated in public after August 2007.
Al-Sadr enjoys enormous devotion among members of the Sadrist Current due to what his followers see as a confrontational stance on their behalf, and the legacy of his father, Muhammad al-Sadr, a high-ranking Shi'a cleric who was killed in 1990.
However, as Slogger readers are aware, the Sadrist Current has had difficulty enforcing its freeze order over the whole of the notoriously decentralized Mahdi Army militia. As the pressures on the Sadrist Current mount with what it sees as a campaign of politically motivated arrests against its supporters, it may raise the question of Muqtada al-Sadr's ability to impose his will on the political leadership of the Sadrist Current.
