Iraqi PM seeks to ease tensions with militia

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Iraqi PM seeks to ease tensions with militia
Fri Apr 4, 2008 12:10pm EDT

By Khalid al-Ansary

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
said on Friday his security forces would stop arresting
militiamen if they gave up their weapons, apparently
seeking to defuse tensions with Shi'ite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr.

In a statement, Maliki said he would grant amnesty from
prosecution to anyone who took part in clashes in southern
Iraq and Baghdad last week if they handed in their guns.

The statement appeared to soften Maliki's position from
Thursday, when at a news conference he threatened a
crackdown on Sadr's strongholds in Baghdad in the wake
of some of Iraq's heaviest street fighting in a year.

-snip-

His statement was released just before Muslim midday
prayers, after which hundreds of Sadr's followers staged
sit-ins in the capital's Sadr City and Shula neighborhoods,
Sadr strongholds which remain sealed off after last week's
fighting.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL0434078820080404

[Tempest]

1. Flip-flop, flip-flop

Just like his puppet master Bush.