It is not too late for firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to lay down his arms and be welcomed into the political fold, Iraq's new president said yesterday.
Interim President Ghazi al-Yawar, recently returned from the G8 summit in the US, said he welcomed al-Sadr's recent decision to create a political party that could take part in Iraq's first democratic elections in the new year.
"I kept on saying consistently that if I were in his shoes I would try to go to the political arena instead of raising arms," Yawar told reporters outside the Iraqi government building.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"He has supporters, he has constituents, he should go through the political process and I commend this smart move on his side."
Al-Sadr launched an uprising against US-led occupying troops two months ago, but earlier this month agreed a truce in Najaf and Kerbala under pressure from Shiite religious leaders.
The US-led administration in Iraq says al-Sadr must surrender to an Iraqi arrest warrant in connection with the murder of a rival cleric in Najaf last year, and is reluctant to see him take a leading role in Iraq's political process.
US troops arrested a senior aide and spokesman to al-Sadr in an overnight raid in the holy city of Kerbala, his office said.
But Yawar said the young cleric was innocent until proven guilty and could enter Iraqi politics as soon as he disbands his Mahdi Army militia, thought to number several thousand.
"In the new Iraq nobody is above the law. However, he is not convicted, his name has been brought as a suspect in a certain incident. So he has to make sure he clears himself," Yawar said.
Meanwhile, a series of explosions rocked a US base at the eastern entrance of Kerbala yesterday, while elsewhere more Iraqis were reported killed in separate attacks.
Witnesses said mortar shells were fired from an area near the base which is heavily populated. US forces set up joint checkpoints with Kerbala police and civil defense corps and fired at the area from where the shells were believed to have been fired.
In Babylon, south of Baghdad, a professor at the Babylon Religious College was assassinated as he was leaving the campus yesterday morning, witnesses said. Islamic history professor Abdel Hussein Abdullah was shot by unknown assailants from a speeding car.
Also see story:
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RSS