Mahdi Army Commanders Withdraw to Iran During Baghdad Security Crackdown

[Guardian-UK] Michael Howard - Senior commanders of the Mahdi army, the militia loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, have been spirited away to Iran to avoid being targeted in the new security push in Baghdad, a high-level Iraqi official said Wednesday. "The strategy is to lie low until the storm passes, and then let them return," said the official.