BAGHDAD — In an illustration of its growing muscle in Iraq as U.S. influence wanes, anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s movement has won pardons for at least 50 prisoners jailed for crimes such as murder, kidnapping and attacks on U.S. troops.
The amnesties come at a time when U.S. forces remaining in Iraq have faced an increased number of attacks, many by Shiite Muslim militias associated with the al-Sadr movement. And they have angered some senior Iraqi officials, who charge that the law is being applied selectively and bent to fit a hidden political agenda.
Only a few Iraqi officials are aware of the pardons, granted by President Jalal Talabani at the request of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who needs the backing of al-Sadr’s movement to stay in power.
Denver Post wire services
