Iraqi Prime Minister Opens Controversial Newspaper Shut Down by Coalition

[Cannikin]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's interim prime minister issued a decree July 18 allowing a controversial newspaper to reopen after U.S. officials closed it in March, setting off months of fighting between U.S. forces and militants loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Meanwhile, after a two-month absence, al-Sadr showed up in Najaf in an unannounced visit to the Imam Ali shrine, one of Shiism's holiest sites. The mercurial cleric was ushered into the mosque as guards and aides cut a path through hundreds of chanting and cheering supporters.

The weekly Al-Hawza was the mouthpiece of al-Sadr's "Sadrist" movement, routinely carrying his fiery sermons on its front page along with articles sharply critical of the U.S.-led occupation, which formally ended June 28.

Iraq's former American governor, L. Paul Bremer, ordered the newspaper closed for two months on March 28 for allegedly inciting violence against coalition troops.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB8GWA8VWD.html