By IRNA,
Baghdad : The face-off between Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the Iraqi government unfolded Sunday on the streets of Sadr City where a peaceful demonstration against continued violence there was held by members of the Iraqi Parliament even as clashes went on a few blocks away.
A few hours later, as a huge dust storm enveloped the capital, turning the sky a musky yellow, insurgents in Sadr City used the cover that stops American helicopters from flying to fire a volley of at least eight mortars at the Green Zone, the home of the American Embassy and many Iraqi government officials.
The mix of peaceful protest and armed attacks has become characteristic of the many levels on which the Sadr movement and the government are locked in an all out fight for political advantage.
At stake is the outcome of approaching provincial elections in which the Iraqi parties in the government stand to lose seats to supporters of Sadr, The New York Times said.
For now, however, members of Parliament from across the political spectrum – with the exception of the Shiite parties that are part of the government – appeared to be trying to transcend the fight for power and focus on the terrible conditions for residents of Sadr City, a sprawling Shiite slum in the capital, where fighting has gone on for more than a month.
“What is different about this delegation is that it is composed of all kinds of Iraqis,” said Azzad Barbani, a Parliament member from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, one of 40 members who participated in the protest Sunday.
“The situation is so bad,” he said, adding, “But from a political point of view, the solution is dialogue, without getting rid of any bloc in Parliament.”
“We want to solve the problem peacefully,” said Dr. Mustafa al-Heeti, a Sunni member of Parliament from Anbar province who led the delegation on Sunday.
The residents of Sadr City “are Iraqis,” he said. “They are very poor people with very few services, and the military action has caused so much loss of life.”
Dr. Heeti said that the goal of the protest was to demand an end to the fighting and the withdrawal of military forces.
Iraqi Army troops have been on the frontline of the fighting, and American troops have been backing them up. He added that a committee of Sadrists and other members of Parliament hopes to meet with Prime Minister Nouri Kamal Maliki to discuss their concerns.
Qassim Atta, a spokesman for the Iraqi government’s effort to bring law and order back to Baghdad, told a news conference that the government had earmarked $100 million in aid for Sadr City and gave a long list of services that the neighborhood would receive.
But it was apparent that little aid had arrived so far both because the fighting makes it dangerous for city service workers to venture into the worst areas and because government officials remain ambivalent about helping a neighborhood that includes some of their enemies.
Sadr’s officials, however, lost no time in reaching out to beleaguered residents.
Hazim al-Arraji, a member of Parliament from Sadr’s bloc announced that Sadr’s office would compensate families that had lost a close relative and would also make payments to those who were injured.
While he did not say the amount that each family would get, a reporter attending a funeral in Sadr City said the family had received a half-million Iraqi dinars, or about $450, from an official of Sadr’s office.
The money is supposed to help poor families pay for the funeral services, which include a three-day period of mourning when relatives and friends come to the home of the bereaved and must be offered food and drink.