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Baghdad: Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki on Tuesday claimed a week-old operation against Shiite militias in the southern city of Basra has been a "success," despite a ceasefire that stopped short of disarming the gunmen and left him politically battered.
The battle between the government and Moqtada Al Sadr's Mahdi Army gunmen has calmed down on the surface, but the resulting quiet has raised many questions among Iraqi political sources.
Most important among them is that is Al Maliki, the most powerful man in Iraq?
"Surely Al Maliki has lost the support of Al Sadr who has a significant following in Shiite cities," said Tahseen Al Tamimi, an Iraqi political researcher.
"I do not exaggerate if I say that the followers consider Al Maliki as their mortal enemy after the US occupation. In turn, Al Maliki won the trust of a large number of Shiite intellectuals and elites who complained repeatedly that the militants' behaviour did not respect laws or education," Al Tamimi told Gulf News.
Al Maliki stopped short of declaring an end to the offensive that began a week ago in Basra which sparked retaliatory clashes in Baghdad and other southern cities, and criticism that his government was unprepared for the fierce backlash.
Al Sadr, meanwhile, thanked his fighters for "defending your people, your land and your honour."
Sporadic fighting continued in Baghdad and Basra, but the cities otherwise were calm two days after the radical Shiite cleric called on his fighters to stand down in a bid to end the widening conflict.
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