The Sadr/Maliki split and Sadr returns to Iran

Maliki and Sadr may have now irrevocably split. Sadr's bloc was intially the driving force that brought Maliki and his small Dawa party to power. Sadr liked Maliki because he was not the SIIC, and the Americans liked Maliki (as a second choice) because he was not in either of the major Shia blocs allowing the possibility (pretense) of a multifactional unity government.

But, alot of water has passed under that bridge, and now the milk has soured in Maliki and Sadr's relationship. Sadr has grown increasingly hostile as Maliki has slowly moved his government towards the more US favored SIIC, increasing his anti-government rhetoric and withdrawing his bloc's participation in Maliki's government.

Two days ago, Maliki cast the final straw, calling for the Sadrists to put down their guns, but also accusing them of being no more than criminal gangs and being infested by Sunni Saddamists and Baathists (a mortal insult in Shia militiadom.)

Since then, Sadr's bloc has responded. (AFP,BBC,Iraqslogger.)

To get some sense of the level of hostilities, the US military is reporting that Sadr has returned to Iran, presumably to dodge a possible Iraqi or US arrest.