Iraqi militia leader's death shatters truce

Source: LA Times

Mahdi Army commander Hamoudi Naji and his men paraded past the grocery stores, car repair shops and brick homes in the Ugaidat neighborhood, the one section of Washash not under his control. It was a reminder to everyone watching that even if he couldn't touch this one area, the entire district belonged to him.

It had been five months since the Shiite militia leader had hammered out the truce with Abu Yasser, a senior member of the Sunni clan that Ugaidat was named after. The tribe had been able to fend him off, and Naji, a vegetable seller and car thief with a love of violence, had finally agreed to leave the Ugaidat clan alone.

On Thursday night, Naji watched Sunni and Shiite men sipping tea by their front gates and children playing games for Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that has just begun. Up the street, Abu Yasser spotted him.

Abu Yasser remembered when the two men announced the truce and celebrated with a meal in a tent in the middle of the district. The terms were: no killing, no displacement and a return to calm. He had hoped it would spread through all Washash, but it did not.

Naji continued to walk. From the date palms, gunmen watched him and opened fire. The Mahdi Army leader collapsed, mortally wounded, and with him went the truce that had prevailed in the neighborhood.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-naji23sep23,1,5688147.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true

:eyes:

The only way these disputes end permanently is ethnic cleansing after all.

<snip>Abu Yasser said one Iraqi officer told him: "What are you still doing in the middle of this Shiite area? Why haven't you left already? You are bringing us all troubles."

He agreed and joined a caravan of cars escorted by the Iraqi army. "We left our houses. We only took the important small things and some clothes," he said. "I don't think we will ever go back to our houses, especially after what happened."

The U.S. military commander for Washash, Lt. Col. Ed Chesney, watched as the Sunnis started to flee, despite the promises of an increased military presence. "They are making a decision based on their experiences over the past few years," he said.

Some of Abu Yasser's relatives left their homes with Shiite friends who promised to look after them.

_____________________________________________________________________

Sounds like freedom and democracy to me.

:sarcasm: