![Thousands of supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr stage a "silent" protest to demand the dissolution of Iraq’s High Electoral Commission at Tahrir Square in Baghdad, Iraq on 17 February 2017. [Murtadha Sudani/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/d2.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/20170217_Sadr_supporters_protest_Baghdad-7.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
The leader of the Shi’ite Sadrist movement in Iraq, Muqtada Al-Sadr, yesterday threatened to return his Al-Mehdi Army into the country.
Addressing what he described as “radical Sunni political leaders who want to return the booby traps,” Al-Sadr said that the Mehdi army was “frozen and not cancelled,” warning it would “return.”
Al-Sadr’s remarks came in an interview with Iraq’s Al-Sharqiya.
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Sadr disarmed his militia after former Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s troops — backed by the United States (US) forces — defeated them in Baghdad and southern cities in 2008. His movement has since become a potent force in mainstream politics.
US and Iraqi security officials say Mehdi Army splinter groups still pose a security risk, emerging in the form of Shi’ite militia that Washington says are backed by Iran.