Iraqi PM Orders US Forces To Free Sadr Aide

This is going to drive the neocons into apoplexy.

U.S. forces have released a senior aide to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on the orders of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the latter's office said on Wednesday.

Ahmed Shibani, who had been held for more than two years, is a senior aide to Sadr, a radical anti-American cleric who is also the leader of the Mehdi Army militia which Washington recently called the greatest threat to security in Iraq.

Shibani was originally arrested in Najaf along with another 17 Sadr followers on accusations of carrying heavy weapons. Last year, an Iraqi court found no evidence against him but the US kept him in jail anyway.

The accepted wisdom is that this is a move to mend fences between Maliki and Sadr, fences broken by the "surge" in Baghdad and Maliki's attendant pledge to tackle both Shi'ite and Sunni militants. Now it seems that all is forgiven.

"The relationship was tense for some time, the Sadrists saw the Baghdad plan as against them. The release will put it back on track," a senior Shi'ite Alliance official told Reuters.

"Maliki will be their favorite again."

In advance of the expected rightwing screams of outrage, I've a suggestion. The words, suitably changed, are "It's one, two, three, what are we surging for?"

This is seriously going to kick up the neoconservative campaign to have Maliki replaced in an electoral coup by Allawi.