Iran role reported in schism of Iraq militia

Chicago Tribune reports that a group of shi'ite militia have broken allegiance with Moqtada and now are being trained in Iran. Are we going to have an 'Iraqi Hizballah' under the auspieces of Supreme Leader of Ignorance, Aytaollah Khameani? Are they going to fight their shi'ite brethern loyal to Moqtada Sadr? Excerpt below:


The Shiite militia known as the Mahdi Army is breaking into splinter groups, with as many as 3,000 gunmen now financed directly by Iran and no longer loyal to the firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr, adding a potentially even more deadly element to Iraq's violent mix.

Two senior militia commanders told The Associated Press that hundreds of these fighters have crossed into Iran for training by the elite Quds Force, a branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard thought to have trained Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and Muslim fighters in Bosnia and Afghanistan.

The breakup is an ominous development at a time when U.S. and Iraqi forces are working to defeat religious-based militias and secure Iraq under government control. While Sadr's forces have fought the coalition repeatedly, including pitched battles in 2004, they have mostly stayed in the background during the latest offensive.