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Heavy fighting has erupted in eastern Baghdad as suspected members of the Mahdi Army militia have made provocative moves against government checkpoints and rival militias in the capital, against the backdrop of an escalating campaign of "civil disobedience" in militia strongholds in the capital.
"Hundreds" of militiamen's cars are moving throughout Sadr City, eyewitnesses say, transporting fighters and weapons, while most shops in areas of Baghdad where the militia has influence are closed, Slogger sources report, after the militia signaled a campaign of "civil disobedience" in the capital.
Shopkeepers have closed their doors in Mahdi Army strongholds in both eastern and western Baghdad, including al-'Amil, Washash, Shu'la, and Bayya, as well as Sadr City and other parts of eastern Baghdad.
Locals tell Slogger that word has spread since Monday of a Mahdi Army campaign to close shops as a sign of civil disobedience. Many shopkeepers have decided that it is too risky to open their doors and are complying with the order on Tuesday, residents report.
It is not known how much the official Sadrist organization, nominally loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, approves of the militia drive to shut shops and control checkpoints, but locals report that the show of force is impressive, representing either a significant renegade faction within the Sadrist militia, or an official Sadrist action tantamount to the reversal of the "freeze" of Mahdi Army activity ordered by Muqtada al-Sadr since August, and renewed last month.
Some militia commanders in Sadr City are rumored to have declared that their forces are acting independently of Muqtada al-Sadr's orders as the young Shi'a cleric has seemingly isolated himself from the political affairs of his followers.
Mahdi Army members are using loudspeakers in Sadr City to tell shopkeepers to close their doors, residents tell Slogger. One militiaman told IraqSlogger that the move comes in solidarity with the Mahdi Army in Basra as heavy fighting erupted in that city.
Schools have also been shut down for the last two days across areas of Mahdi Army influence in the capital.
Open fighting
Sadr City has seen open fighting, according to eyewitnesses and media reports. Fighting has erupted in the Mahdi Army stronghold of Sadr City as the militia has taken over checkpoints in the district, according to media reports.
Slogger sources in eastern Baghdad report that many of the checkpoints were simply deserted as news of the militia's moves against them spread.
Fighting has also erupted between the Mahdi Army and rival Shi'a factions. Locals report that at 10:30 am on Tuesday the militia attacked offices of the Badr organization, loyal to the rival Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, one of the major partners in the Maliki government and a bitter rival to the Sadrist current in Iraq's Shi'a community.
Six members of Badr have been killed, according to preliminary reports from locals to Slogger, including two in Sadr City.
Aswat al-Iraq reports in Arabic that the offices of the Da'wa Party -- Iraq Organization were attacked and burned in Sadr City by an unknown armed group, without human casualties. MP Abd al-Mahdi al-Hasani told Aswat al-Iraq that "We do not accuse any specific party, but if it is found that the perpetrators of this act are from the Sadrist Current, we will demand in the Parliament for retaliation."
Eyewitnesses tell Slogger that the Iraqi Army and American forces have not intervened in the fighting.
Slogger sources observe US convoys circling in the eastern Baghdad areas of Baladiyat and Baghdad al-Jadida, but locals report no engagement as yet between militiamen and US forces.
A Sadrist official, speaking anonymously, told Aswat al-Iraq that there have been no clashes with government forces in Baghdad, and added that orders had been issued from the Sadrist office in Najaf to distribute copies of the Qu'ran and olive branches to checkpoints, orders with which, the source told the agency, Sadrist followers promptly complied.
Government threats
Via spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh, the Iraqi government has directed a threat against the militia's push for civil disobedience in Iraq, Aswat al-Iraq reports in Arabic. "Peaceful expression of a political position is a constitutional right and a civilized political practice whose limits end when it leads to threats or damage of the general interest or hindering the state." Dabbagh stated that the government would use legal means to block the disobedience.
While the spokesman affirmed that the Iraqi cabinet "affirms that the Sadrist current is an effective part of the political life, and has patriotic positions that have contributed to stability and security," he added that "the disobedience will be an opportunity to the enemies of the current and the enemies of Iraq to despoil the security effort and is an unconstitutional practice that the cabinet warns against continuing."
Meanwhile, the agency writes that a Sadrist MP, Salih al-Ukeili, has threatened to move to withdraw confidence from the Maliki government, "after its description of the civil disobedience, which citizens are implementing in a number of areas of Baghdad to demand an end to the raiding operations in their areas on the part of the government forces and the Occupation forces, and the release of detainees from prisons, as a means of violence."
The Sadrist MP added that the civil disobedience would continue until the Sadrist demands are met.
Earlier on Tuesday the commanders of the Baghdad security plan announced that they would use Iraq's anti-terrorism law to combat armed groups that use threats in enforcing the call for civil disobedience.
Demands
Aswat al-Iraq reported on Monday in Arabic that Mazin al-Sa'idi, the head of the Sadrist office in the Karkh area (western Baghdad) announced that "We have begun our first option, to stage protests in the Karkh side of Baghdad," adding that the protests would be opened until the Sadrists' demands are met.
The demands include "Stopping of the raids and arbitrary arrests targeting the members of the (Sadrist) current, the release of (Sadrist) detainees, and an official acknowledgment of the violations that have taken place." Members of IraqSlogger's network of Iraqi staff contributed to this report but choose to remain anonymous for security reasons.
