Mahdi Army

The Mahdi Army, also known as the Mahdi Militia or Jaish al -Mahdi (JAM ) (Arabic جيش المهدي Jaish al -Mahdi, DMG Ǧaiš al -Mahdi ), is an Iraqi paramilitary force in June 2003 by the Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was founded.

The group gained international prominence on April 18, 2004, when it represented the spearhead of the first major armed confrontation of the Shiite community with the US-led occupation forces. As a result, published by al -Sadr newspapers were banned and there were attempts to arrest him. After the armistice of June 6, efforts were made to resolve the group or reshape as- Sadr's movement into a political party which then participate in the 2005 elections.

Muqtada al-Sadr ordered the fighters of the Mahdi Army, to abide by the ceasefire, unless they are attacked first. The truce ended in August 2004 after provocative actions by the Mahdi Army, in which new hostilities erupted.

The response against this militia goes so far that it affects regional governments, the police and the cooperation with Sunni Iraqis. The National Independent Cadres and Elites party, a Shiite party in Iraq, has close links with al- Sadr's army.

Name

The name of Jaish al -Mahdi has an eschatological connotation: in the Shiite theology is the Mahdi, the Messiah, who the Masih (Arabic: the Anointed; Christ ) should take to help to destroy the Dajjal and a worldwide Islamic caliphate justified, for in preparation the Yaum al - Qiyamah, the "Day of resurrection".