Iraq’s Shiite militia sees its power waning
New York Times
Posted online: Monday, July 28, 2008
The Mahdi Army’s decline also means that the Iraqi state, all but impotent in the early years of the war, has begun to act the part, taking over delivery of some services and control of some neighbourhoods.
“The Iraqi Government broke their branches and took down their tree,” said Abu Amjad, a civil servant who lives in Sadr City, once seen as an unbreachable stronghold of the group. The change is showing up in the lives of ordinary people. The price of cooking gas is less than a fifth of what it was when the militia controlled local gas stations, and kerosene for heating has also become much less expensive.
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