Al-Sadr urges opposition to U.S. in sign security cooperation may end

BAGHDAD -- After weeks of cooperation with a new security plan, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr decried U.S. forces as occupiers Friday and called on his followers to "shout 'No, No America!"' in a sign of resurgent anger and opposition.

Thousands of Shiites flooded from the mosque where al-Sadr's statement was read by a preacher at Friday prayers, spilling into the streets of the Sadr City slum to protest the 2-week-old American military presence there. The U.S. military says al-Sadr has gone to Iran.

Officials with al-Sadr's Mahdi Army did not explain why al-Sadr chose to issue the surprisingly confrontational statement.

American military leaders had credited al-Sadr -- who was said to have ordered his Mahdi Army militia to put away its weapons and not confront U.S. and Iraqi troops -- for the relatively effortless start of security patrols and raids in the volatile Shiite slum, a no-go zone for U.S. forces until about two weeks ago.

Al-Sadr's message on the Muslim day of prayer and rest could signal a shift in his willingness to absorb the perceived indignity of the U.S. troop presence and wait out the security plan. Or it could have been nothing more than a reminder to his followers that he was watching carefully and was still their leader.

"The occupiers want to harm this beloved [Sadr City] and tarnish its name by spreading false rumors and allegations that negotiations and cooperation are ongoing between you and them," the statement said. "I am confident that you will not make concessions to them and will remain above them. Raise your voices in love and brotherhood and unity against your enemy and shout 'No, No America!"

Al-Sadr's office in the holy city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, confirmed the statement was genuine. American military officials said the fiercely anti-American cleric remains in Iran, where he was said to have fled in the days preceding the security operation.

The reference in the al-Sadr statement to "negotiations" may have been intended as a reminder to followers not to go too far in cooperating the Americans.

Sadr City Mayor Rahim al-Darraji, a principal negotiator with American forces, was seriously wounded in a shooting attack on his convoy Thursday.

His negotiation work had created tension in the ranks of Shiite militiamen and some blamed the assault -- which also killed two bodyguards -- on a militia faction unhappy about cooperation with the U.S. military, a local Mahdi Army commander said Friday.

"This is a faction that enjoys some weight," the commander said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

One of the dead bodyguards was identified as police Lt. Col. Mohammad Mutashar Al-Freji, a friend of al-Darraji's who was politically linked to al-Sadr.

Late Friday, the American military reacted cautiously to the al-Sadr statement.

"We have often seen differing political views or differing statements coming out of many of the political organizations here in Iraq, not just the Sadr bloc or al-Sadr's organization," U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said. "As we've said, we are, if anything, cautiously optimistic, but it's still very early."

A prominent al-Sadr backer, Sheikh Muhannad al-Bahadli, condemned what he called the "oppressive occupiers on the land of Sadr City."

The joint U.S.-Iraqi security operation -- launched Feb. 14 -- was designed to rein in sectarian violence that had swept Baghdad and central Iraq for nearly a year after the al-Qaida in Iraq bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra.

The initial success in reining in al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which fought fiercely against U.S. forces in 2004, is widely credited with the drop in execution-style killings, random shootings and rocket attacks during the operation.

But some Shiites said the absence of the Mahdi Army left them vulnerable to several high-casualty bomb attacks, straining tolerance of the security operation.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, said he was going to miss his self-imposed deadline for reshuffling the Cabinet, despite political breathing room provided by the sharp decline in violence during the first month of the security crackdown.

Al-Maliki has repeatedly vowed -- under what was thought to be U.S. pressure -- to shake up his Shiite Muslim-dominated government.

But after each declaration that he was going to oust recalcitrant ministers, al-Maliki has failed to muster sufficient political backing to make the dramatic move.

Al-Maliki reissued the promise to realign the government in an interview with The Associated Press nearly two weeks ago, saying he planned to act no later than Thursday.

"In fact, the Cabinet reshuffle remains under study. There are names on the table and consultations are continuing. But when we talk about change, we want to look for the best who will provide the best required service in this or that ministry," al-Maliki said.

Also Friday, the U.S. military said a soldier was killed by an explosion during fighting in Salahuddin, a mainly Sunni province, northwest of Baghdad. A Marine died in a non-combat incident in Anbar Province. Both service members died Thursday.

And Britain reported that 10 inmates at a detention facility in Basra escaped this week after swapping clothes -- then places -- with visitors who came to see them.

The British Ministry of Defense said officials at the Shaibah logistics base in Basra noticed the 10, who were being held as a security threat, were missing on Thursday.

Nine of the 10 impostors who switched places with the detainees remained in custody in Basra, but no further details have been released. Another detainee escaped in a separate incident Wednesday.

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Associated Press Writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.