Al Taawoun seals AFC Champions League Two knockout spot with 2-1 win over Al Khaldiya    Al-Jasser: Riyadh Metro to accommodate one million passengers daily    Al-Jasser: 122,000 jobs generated in transport sector in a year    Riyadh Metro to begin phased operations from December 1    Israelis survey damage and mull return to north as ceasefire begins    Israel to appeal against ICC warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant    Trump nominates Keith Kellogg as special envoy for Ukraine and Russia    Missing hiker found alive after more than five weeks in wilderness    Elon Musk publicizes names of government employees he wants to cut    Saudi Arabia participates in OIC anti-corruption agencies' meeting in Qatar    Al Rajhi: Saudi Arabia sets revised unemployment target of 5% by 2030 "300,000 citizens employed in qualitative professions"    Al Hilal advances to AFC Champions League knockout stage despite 1-1 draw with Al Sadd    Saudi Arabia unveils updates on Expo 2030 Riyadh master plan at 175th BIE General Assembly Riyadh Expo Development Company established to oversee strategic planning, operations, and legacy development    Saudi FM attends Quadripartite meeting on Sudan in Italy    Best-selling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford dies    Cristiano Ronaldo's double powers Al Nassr to 3-1 win over Al Gharafa in AFC Champions League    Most decorated Australian Olympian McKeon retires    Adele doesn't know when she'll perform again after tearful Vegas goodbye    'Pregnant' for 15 months: Inside the 'miracle' pregnancy scam    Do cigarettes belong in a museum?    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Sadr threatens fresh ‘uprising'
Agencies
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 21 - 04 - 2008

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a surprise visit to Baghdad on Sunday said Iraqi leaders were more united than ever, as Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr has threatened an “open war” against the government.
Rice also said that security in Iraq had improved but, during her stay in Baghdad's Green Zone, the heavily fortified area was rocked by an explosion which, according to a US official, could have been a rocket attack.
More than 60 people, including 40 Shiite fighters, were reported killed since Saturday in clashes with security forces, Iraqi and US officials said.
“I see a coalescing of a center in Iraqi politics in which the Sunnis, the Kurdish leadership and the elements of the Shiite leadership that are not associated with these ‘Special Groups' (alleged Iranian-backed Shiite groups) have been working better than at any time before,” she said.
“It is indeed a moment of opportunity in Iraq thanks to the decision of the Iraqi prime minister and the unified Iraqi leadership.”
But a top US general warned that the military would strike back.
“I hope Moqtada Al-Sadr continues to depress violence and not encourage it,” said Major General Rick Lynch, commander of US forces in central Iraq.
“I am giving my last warning and my word to the Iraqi government to take the path of peace and stop violence against its own people, otherwise it will be a government of destruction,” he said in a statement issued by his office in Najaf.
“If it does not stop the militias that have infiltrated the government, then we will declare a war until liberation.”
Soon after he made his statement, loudspeakers at mosques in Sadr's Baghdad bastion Sadr City blared out a call to arms and urged residents to “fight the occupiers.”
Underscoring the threat of widening violence, the US military said it killed 40 militiamen in clashes in the cleric's Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City. A military spokesman called it the capital's “hottest night” in weeks.
Meanwhile, nine university students and their driver were kidnapped Sunday near Baquba, north of Baghdad, when gunmen stopped their vehicle at a fake checkpoint.
The gunmen also grabbed another man in a truck at the same checkpoint and took all of the hostages to an unknown location, police said. The students were returning to Diyala university after a weekend break. __


Clic here to read the story from its source.