(cross-posted from verlin.com)
BAGHDAD - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will have a statement read in mosques at Friday prayer services addressing whether his Mahdi Army will extend a six-month cease-fire that's helped reduce violence throughout Iraq, a Shiite lawmaker said. After the statement is read, al-Sadr will surprise crowds with a CD release party for his new album "Muhammad Is My Homeboy", a two-disc rock/rap crossover album intended to bridge the gap between radical Shia Islam and Iraq's little-known hip-hop underground.
The Iraqi legislator, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, told The Associated Press on Thursday that "tomorrow there will be a statement from Sayed Muqtada to be read during Friday prayers, followed by the drop of what's sure to be 2008's hypest joint."
"No one can predict what decision will be taken," he said. "Whether it will be an extension of the freeze or not. The only thing we know is that all of Iraq is going to be bouncing to Muqtada's booming beats, yo."
Al-Sadr's decision to take his militia off the streets last August has been widely credited with slashing improving security throughout Iraq, along with a boost in American troop levels and Sunni fighters turning against their former allies from al-Qaida in Iraq. Lesser known is the young cleric's time spent in the recording studio and his admiration of American rappers like Jay-Z, Ludacris, and Dr. Dre.
Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, a spokesman for al-Sadr in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, said Wednesday that if the cleric failed to issue a statement by Saturday saying the cease-fire was extended, "then that means the freeze is over." Whether the freeze is over or not, business looks to be picking up for Iraq's car audio installers, who will either be wiring up new stereos so that the Shia faithful can enjoy al-Sadr's lyrical terrorism, or wiring up car bombs so that they can enjoy actual terrorism. The Shiite lawmaker said the statement being released Friday does address the cease-fire, but he couldn't say whether it extended or ended it. He also refused to state whether or not al-Sadr's new album would be available on iTunes.
Some of al-Sadr's followers, frustrated by a lack of home-grown rap music and U.S. raids against what it terms splinter groups from the Mahdi Army, have called for their leader to either release the ground-breaking double album he has spent the past six months working on, or put his fighters back on the streets, a step that could drastically worsen sectarian violence.
Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, a U.S. military spokesman and music critic, said that under current conditions, killings are still dropping. He said the number of civilian deaths in Baghdad fell from 1,087 men, women and children killed in February 2007 to 178 in the first month of this year.
"M.C. Al-Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr's cease-fire has been helpful in reducing violence and has led to improved security in Iraq. We would welcome both the release of his new album and the extension of the cease-fire as positive steps," Smith told The Associated Press, using an honorific reserved for descendants of the Prophet Muhammad with what the Koran describes roughly as "mad lyrical skill".