April 5, 2008

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has warned that he intends to order new military attacks on certain neighborhoods in Baghdad.

The remarks have sent tremors of fear across the Iraqi capital, home to more than six million people as many of them thought they could finally have some faith in U.S. and Iraqi politicians’ statements that they had the city under control.

The so-called U.S. surge in which tens of thousands of troops were dispatched to pacify Baghdad more than a year ago was thought to have succeeded.

But Maliki’s warning signals that Baghdad, or at least certain of its neighborhoods are as wild as before.

"There are areas in Baghdad which are in need of 'knights’ forays’ because of the presence of gangs which control the lives of the people," he said.

'Knights’ forays’ is the codename Maliki has given to his inconclusive attacks on the militiamen of the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the southern city of Basra, Baghdad and several other areas.

Many Iraqis now believe that Sadr has taken Maliki almost as a 'hostage’ since his 'knights’ forays’ have dealt devastating military blows to Iraqi army and police with his military wing, the Mahdi Army, emerging even stronger than before.

Sadr’s militiamen proved a power to reckon with and far better organized than Iraqi troops.

Maliki has almost met all of Sadr’s conditions and has recently ordered a complete halt to the crackdown on his militias.

It is not clear which areas of Baghdad Maliki has in mind as they certainly would not include predominantly Shiite neighborhoods currently under the control of Sadr’s militias.

An attack on Sunni areas is bound to further anger and alienate Sunni leaders and clerics who have reluctantly agreed to cooperate with the U.S. struggle against al-Qaeda in the country.