Sermon: Amarah offensive targeted Sadr

KUFA, Iraq, June 27 (UPI) -- Iraqi military operations in Amarah, the capital of Maysan province, deliberately targeted fighters loyal to Moqtada Sadr, a cleric said during Friday prayers.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered Iraqi military forces into southeastern Maysan province June 19 to clear the area of Shiite militias. Anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr told his militia, the Mehdi Army, to stand down ahead of the operations and called on the Iraqi military to avoid indiscriminate arrests.

Shiite cleric Abdul-Hadi al-Mohammadawi said during Friday prayers in the holy city of Kufa there were no accounts of terrorist activity ahead of the Amarah offensive, the Iranian Press TV said.

Baghdad insisted the operation was part of a broader campaign to clear southern Iraq of "criminals," though Mohammadawi accused the government of launching an offensive to remove Sadr loyalists from the energy-rich region.

Sadr loyalists complained bitterly over what is said were "random detentions" of its supporters by the Iraqi military, saying the military acted without authority and in violation of pledges from the Maliki government.

Iraqi forces detained Amarah Mayor Rafia Abdul-Jabbar, a Sadr loyalist, and several other supporters during the June 19 operation.