More on Amara

If Sadr was behind this, rather than a splinter group acting in retaliation to free one of their leaders, where is the immediate statement by Sadr?

Later: CNN is reporting that Sadr dispatched a team to Amara this morning and was calling for calm which indicates that this was done underneath him.

Has Sadr's control weakened such that a sub-leader commanding several hundred men feels he can pull off an operation like this?