Escalation of Violence in Baghdad

The armed Green Zone in the Iraqi capital was again assaulted by a deadly arsenal in spite of the call by a radical Shiite cleric urging his fighters to step down. The entire area, according to Sami al-Askari the adviser to the Iraqi Prime Minister, is under the reign of the acclaimed and dreaded Shiite cleric, Moktada al-Sadr, who took his Mahdi army off the streets. This decision was followed by an uneasy calm in the region, although meanwhile the government had plans to crack down on the militia fighters.

The dissension leading to bloody conflict between Sadr's followers and Iraqi and coalition troops had been continuing for some time sparking violence in other southern cities and in Baghdad. There had been deaths of 400 people, and the fear of escalation of violence led the Iraqi premiere to laud the move by Sadr to scrub his fighters. However, Sadr urged the government to stop armed onslaughts stating hiatus between conflicts was futile.

Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/31/mideast/iraq.php