IRAQ: Sadr Calls for His Army to Rise Up and Ask for a Ceasefire

From Strategy Page

August 7, 2004: Muqtada al Sadr's Shia radical militia has lost over 400 dead in the last few days, and the government has given Sadr 24 hours to disband his militias. Sadr was unable to get a ceasefire, and is now denouncing the United States as the enemy of Iraq and Islam. The problem with this is that the majority of Iraqi Shia don't like Sadr or his gunmen. This is why the government is demanding that Sadr surrender. The local and national government approved the use of American troops, although some government officials are complaining about the use of force. But Sadrs men were getting out of control, and trying to replace the police and local government again, as they did last April.

Did Sistani leave Iraq for treatment abroad as a nod to the Iraqi government to get rid of Sadr?
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