BAGHDAD — Iraqi Col. Qassim Abdul-Wahab appeared relaxed as he cruised down rutted streets in an unarmored pickup truck, Arabic pop tunes pouring from the speakers and the air conditioner cranked up as high as it would go.
For the first time since U.S.-led forces invaded the country in March 2003, Iraqi soldiers blanket Sadr City, the heavily populated Baghdad district that is the bastion of firebrand Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia. Tanks painted with the Iraqi flag are positioned at major intersections, and soldiers scan vehicles for weapons and fighters at newly erected checkpoints.
"You see, the Iraqi army is everywhere. Nobody is targeting them," Abdul-Wahab said with obvious pride. "The Iraqi army is in control of Sadr City."
But the posters plastered across bullet-sprayed walls tell a different story. Sadr's face and that of his revered father, the slain Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq Sadr -- for whom the district is named -- are everywhere. Menacing black graffiti proclaims: "The state of Sadr: It is forbidden to be entered by the Americans and the forces of [Prime Minister Nouri] Maliki."
The cleric's fighters did not challenge the Iraqi soldiers when they deployed throughout Sadr City last week, under an agreement by the major Shiite political parties to end weeks of deadly clashes.
Iraqi officers say many senior militia leaders slipped away while the deal was being hammered out. But thousands of foot soldiers remain. Some are cooperating with the Iraqi troops, pointing out bombs and the occasional weapons cache. Others are watching and waiting.
"See those men?" Abdul-Wahab said, nodding toward a group standing sullenly among the ruins of a blown-out shop. "Mahdi Army."
At another intersection, a portly man in a crisp black-and-white uniform was trying to control an unruly flow of rattletrap cars and horse-drawn carts.
"This traffic officer is from the neighborhood," Abdul-Wahab said. "He's probably more loyal to the Mahdi Army than to the government."
Some Iraqi soldiers pull scarves over their faces as they move through the district, fearful that they will be recognized and killed.
"The Mahdi Army still control the city," boasted Qassim Atta, an angry teen in dusty trousers and plastic sandals. "They are everywhere."
