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| Radical Shia cleric 'is in Iran' | Radical Shia cleric 'is in Iran' |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Radical Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr is currently in Iran, an adviser to the Iraqi prime minister has said. | Radical Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr is currently in Iran, an adviser to the Iraqi prime minister has said. |
| Sami al-Askari said the cleric would be back soon and had not fled the country in response to the new US-Iraqi security plan for Baghdad. | Sami al-Askari said the cleric would be back soon and had not fled the country in response to the new US-Iraqi security plan for Baghdad. |
| There have been conflicting reports about Mr Sadr's whereabouts - the US said he left for Iran last month but his aides said he was still in Iraq. | |
| The cleric's Mehdi Army is one of the key forces in Baghdad | The cleric's Mehdi Army is one of the key forces in Baghdad |
| The US military has identified the Mehdi Army as one of the biggest threats to law and order in the capital. | |
| However, Mr Sadr has vowed not to interfere with the new government crackdown on militias. | However, Mr Sadr has vowed not to interfere with the new government crackdown on militias. |
| His bloc holds about a quarter of the parliamentary seats of the ruling Shia Alliance of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. | His bloc holds about a quarter of the parliamentary seats of the ruling Shia Alliance of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. |
| Mr Sadr, thought to be in his early 30s, mixes Iraqi nationalism and Shia radicalism, making him a figurehead for many of Iraq's poor Shia Muslims. | |
| The Iraqi and US security crackdown which began on Wednesday includes: | |