The fighters arrived in the night from Iran, local Kurds say, filling more than 100 white canvas tents that have sprung up in neat rows here over the past week. Visible from the road, the new arrivals to this autonomous stretch of northern Iraq go about their military routines in fresh camouflage uniforms, cleaning AK-47 assault rifles under a bright winter sun. The Badr Brigade, an Iraqi Shiite militia sponsored by Iran and pledged to combat President Saddam Hussein’s rule, seems to be on the move. Its fighters have been waiting for two decades, most intently since southern Iraq’s Shiite population rose up against Hussein after the 1991 Persian Gulf War — only to be crushed by Baghdad’s security forces while the United States stood by. Full Story
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