Iraqis stand on top of what appears to be a destroyed US military humvee in the predominantly Shiite Fidhiliyah area on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, June 10, 2007. Overnight clashes between U.S. troops and militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr left three people dead and 17 wounded in the district, police and witnesses said. They said the fighting broke out after a U.S. military convoy came under attack near the local offices of Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric whose Mahdi Army militia has recently stepped up attacks on American troops.
Iraqis examine what appears to be a destroyed US military humvee in the predominantly Shiite Fidhiliyah area on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, June 10, 2007. Overnight clashes between U.S. troops and militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr left three people dead and 17 wounded in the district, police and witnesses said. They said the fighting broke out after a U.S. military convoy came under attack near the local offices of Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric whose Mahdi Army militia has recently stepped up attacks on American troops.
A man works on a billboard showing a radical anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, center, his late father Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr and late Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr, right, in the holy Shiite city of Najaf, Iraq, Thursday, April 5, 2007. Radical anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has called on his followers to put up Iraqi flags at his strongholds in the run up for the planned massive protest in the holy cities of Kufa and Najaf on the April 9, the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to the American forces.
A pilgrim carries a poster that pictures the anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, left, and his father, Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, in Karbala, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, March 4, 2007. Thousands of devout Shiite Muslims are converging on Karbala for the March 10 celebration of Arbaeen, which marks the end of the forty-day mourning period after the date of the death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, killed in Karbala in 680 A.D.
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, left, steps from an office building in Najaf, Iraq Saturday June 5, 2004. Iraq's most powerful Shiite militia leader is turning to his commanders who distinguished themselves fighting U.S. troops in 2004 to screen fighters, weed out criminals and assume key positions in an effort to build a more disciplined force, two of his key lieutenants say. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed
BAGHDAD, IRAQ, APRIL 4: Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr supporters carry anti-Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki banners during Friday prayer on April 4, 2008 in the Sadr city, the Shiite district in Baghdad, Iraq. A curfew is still imposed in the Sadr city Shiite district in Baghdad and Maliki has ordered Iraqi forces to stop raids across Iraq to give time to those who want to surrender their weapons.
BAGHDAD, IRAQ, APRIL 4: Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr supporters supporters pray near an anti-Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki banner during Friday prayer on April 4, 2008 in the Sadr city, the Shiite district in Baghdad, Iraq. A curfew is still imposed in the Sadr city Shiite district in Baghdad and Maliki has ordered Iraqi forces to stop raids across Iraq to give time to those who want to surrender their weapons.
BAGHDAD, IRAQ, APRIL 4: Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr supporters pray during Friday prayer on April 4, 2008 in the Sadr city, the Shiite district in Baghdad, Iraq. A curfew is still imposed in the Sadr city Shiite district in Baghdad and Maliki has ordered Iraqi forces to stop raids across Iraq to give time to those who want to surrender their weapons.
BAGHDAD, IRAQ, APRIL 4: Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr supporters chant slogans during Friday prayer on April 4, 2008 in the Sadr city, the Shiite district in Baghdad, Iraq. A curfew is still imposed in the Sadr city Shiite district in Baghdad and Maliki has ordered Iraqi forces to stop raids across Iraq to give time to those who want to surrender their weapons.
BAGHDAD, IRAQ, APRIL 4: Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr supporters pray during Friday prayer on April 4, 2008 in the Sadr city, the Shiite district in Baghdad, Iraq. A curfew is still imposed in the Sadr city Shiite district in Baghdad and Maliki has ordered Iraqi forces to stop raids across Iraq to give time to those who want to surrender their weapons.
BAGHDAD, IRAQ, APRIL 4: Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr supporters pray as a man holds up an anti-Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki banner during Friday prayer on April 4, 2008 in the Sadr city, the Shiite district in Baghdad, Iraq. A curfew is still imposed in the Sadr city Shiite district in Baghdad and Maliki has ordered Iraqi forces to stop raids across Iraq to give time to those who want to surrender their weapons.
Sheik Salman al-Feraiji, left, Muqtada al-Sadr's chief representative in Sadr City, talks to a group of Iraqi government forces who came to surrender their weapons in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 29, 2008. Some 40 police officers in Sadr City handed over their weapons to al-Sadr's local office Saturday.
Sheik Salman al-Feraiji, Muqtada al-Sadr's chief representative in Sadr City, talks to a group of Iraqi police officers who came to lay down their weapons in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 29, 2008. Some 40 police officers in Sadr City handed over their weapons to al-Sadr's local office Saturday.
Iraqis hold Muqtada al-Sadr's portrait in the city of Kufa, Iraq, after prayers Friday, Feb. 22, 2008. Anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced Friday that he has extended a cease-fire order to his Shiite Mahdi Army by another six months, giving Iraq a chance to continue its fragile recovery from brutal sectarian violence.
Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's high ranking representative Sheikh Salman al-Fareji, center right, visits a man wounded in a car bombing in a Sadr City hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008. A parked car bomb exploded in a bustling market in Baghdad's main Shiite district on Thursday, killing at least four people and wounding 28, police said.
Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's high ranking representative Sheikh Salman al-Fareji, center right, visits a man wounded in a car bombing in a Sadr City hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008. A parked car bomb exploded in a bustling market in Baghdad's main Shiite district on Thursday, killing at least four people and wounding 28, police said.
Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, spokesman for radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, speaks to reporters in Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2007. Thirty legislators loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr announced Saturday they were leaving the Shiite bloc in parliament amid a campaign of arrests against the anti-American cleric's followers.