1.0 link 97640 <![CDATA[Al-Sadr's followers refuse to disband militia in Iraq]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/20/alsadrs-followers-refuse-_n_97640.html BAGHDAD &mdash; Followers of hardline cleric Muqtada al-Sadr raised the stakes Sunday in the showdown with Iraq's government, refusing to disband their militia. The U.S. military said 40 Shiite militants were killed in fierce fighting in southern Iraq.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, assured visiting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that he will not back down in his confrontation with Shiite militias, even as mortar shells fired from Shiite areas struck the U.S.-protected Green Zone.

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