Iraq's Sadr calls for disarming factions after Baghdad explosion
After an unsanctioned weapons cache exploded recently in Sadr City, Muqtada al-Sadr is proposing an initiative to hand over to the state the weapons of Iraqi factions — beginning with his own movement.
Since a deadly explosion rocked Baghdad’s Sadr City area June 6, there's been a lot of talk about getting armed factions to turn over their weapons to the Iraqi government, but it remains to be seen how successful such a campaign would be.
The blast, which occurred when illegally stored weapons and ammunition detonated, killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 100. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called for an urgent investigation into the explosion.
Muqtada al-Sadr, a nationalist Shiite cleric and head of the Sadrist movement — whose family is Sadr City's namesake — addressed the incident June 8. He stressed that he had given orders to search for the “fugitive” responsible, though some of his opponents alleged the weapons, which had been stored in a mosque, were owned by Sadr's own Peace Companies militia.
Sadr also called for the government to launch a national disarmament campaign, and he volunteered his militia to be the first to turn over its weapons.
