Al-Sadr militia prep for U.S., Iraqi fighting

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Militiamen loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are positioning explosives to defend the major routes into Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood in anticipation of a major battle with U.S. and Iraqi government forces, residents said yesterday.

Iraqis also said families in Sadr City and other Shi'ite areas of Baghdad are stocking up on food, fearing new fighting that will leave them unable to get to the markets.

While food prices in most of Baghdad are stable, they have increased in Sadr City and surrounding neighborhoods as people brace for a resumption of fighting that rocked the neighborhood late last month, said Sajad, an Iraqi translator who spoke with several residents in the Shi'ite stronghold on behalf of The Washington Times.

Tomatoes that were 30 cents to 40 cents a kilogram (2.2 pounds) are now $2.50 a kilo, and the price of eggs and cheese have gone up three to five times their normal price, said Sajad.

In a southwest neighborhood of Baghdad, where Shi'ite militiamen have recently been pushed out, neighbors warned Ahmed, the father of three young children in the area, that there could be another rebel Shi'ite uprising as soon as tomorrow — two days before Gen. David H. Petreaus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are to report to Congress on progress in the U.S. troop surge.

The warning, Ahmed said, appeared to come from Sadr City, so it would only affect Baghdad. Orders to Shi'ite militia across the country normally are issued from Najaf, a holy city in southern Iraq where Sheik al-Sadr's Mahdi Army is headquartered.

In Washington, U.S. intelligence officials said they had no way of confirming Mahdi Army preparations for the Sadr City battle, but added that it is "entirely possible."

One official said the Mahdi Army is likely to try to reignite violence. "It's obviously a fluid situation."

In the U.S.-protected International Zone in central Baghdad, private contractors were "hardening" their rooms to avoid getting killed or injured in the event of another rocket and mortar barrage, similar to the one that followed the government push against Sheik al-Sadr's militia last week in southern Iraq.

"I've moved my desk so that I won't be in the line of shrapnel," said Jack, a 32-year-old American working for a U.S. company who has spent 16 months in Iraq.