Prometheus 6

Salah Ubaidi, a spokesman for Sadr in Sadr City, said residents will be cooperative as long as Iraqi troops conduct searches respectfully. In the past, he said, the troops have used excessive force and detained people for political reasons.

"We are against violations of human rights," not against law enforcement, he said.

Iraq Sends Troops Into Sadr City
Large Deployment Aims to Restore Order in Shiite Area; Situation 'Calm'
By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, May 21, 2008; A08

BAGHDAD, May 20 -- Thousands of Iraqi soldiers entered the volatile Sadr City district of eastern Baghdad on Tuesday, meeting virtually no resistance from Shiite militiamen who in recent weeks have clashed heavily with U.S. and Iraqi troops, Iraqi officials said.

The deployment, which began at dawn, was the first phase of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's long-awaited effort to restore order in the vast Shiite area, a stronghold for loyalists of radical anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Iraqi and U.S. officials described the effort, dubbed Operation Peace, as led, planned and executed entirely by Iraqis. U.S. soldiers, who operate from small outposts in Sadr City, did not play an active role.