Sadr Meets Iraqi Militia Heads to Advance Post-Election Ties

Meetings discussed forming next government

With Iraq’s high court having finalized the election, Moqtada al-Sadr, the head of the largest party, met with the leaders of several Shi’ite militias aligned with the Fatah Party.

Fatah did very poorly in the vote, and was legally challenging it until the court threw their complaint out Monday. Officials say the meeting discussed possible involvement in forming the next government.

Sadr’s party has some 70 seats, and is far from a majority government yet. Fatah did so poorly, it’s hard to see what their seats will do for a coalition-building effort.

That makes it strange for Sadr to start with Fatah, when he’s going to need more big parties to make a run at governing.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.