Iraqi Ayatollah Issues Fatwa Against Al-Sadr's Militia

Karl at Protein Wisdom discovered the latest heartache for Mookie Al-Sadr today buried in The Los Angeles Times:

This time, the grand ayatollahs have declined to aid the incendiary cleric.

Three days into the Basra campaign, Grand Ayatollah Najafi issued a fatwa, or religious opinion or edict, that declared the Iraqi government as the only force in the country with the right to bear arms.

His son, Sheik Ali Najafi, left little doubt that the clergy had backed the Iraqi army operations.

“We see this as a positive improvement... The people want the government to control the streets and the law to be enforced. No other groups,” he said, sitting in his study, furnished with cushions, a laptop and a clock bearing his father’s portrait.

Meanwhile is Basra... Iraqi forces took the last neighborhoods from Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army on Saturday.

The Strata-Sphere reports that al-Sadr is now an enemy of the Shia.

In related news... Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the incidents in Basra are like "a strong slap to all outlaws" while visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice renewed support for the Iraqi government in the face of the armed militias.

For her part, Condoleezza Rice called Mookie Al-Sadr a coward.