Iraq - Sadr himself approved Sadr City raid: aide

Now that's interesting.

NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) - Moqtada al-Sadr gave the go-ahead to a US-led raid on the bastion of his Mahdi Army militia in Baghdad and plans to purge his movement of violent elements, according to an aide to the radical cleric.

Sheikh Abdel Razzaq al-Naddawi, a senior assistant to the firebrand Shiite preacher, said Sadr had given the green light to last week's action by US and Iraqi forces after meeting Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

"It was meant to pinpoint the bad elements and hold them accountable before the law," Naddawi told AFP in the Shiite holy city of Najaf. "This movement does not protect those who abuse people and the innocent."

Very interesting.