Bahaa al-Arjee, a member of the al-Sadr parliamentary bloc that resigned en-masse April 16 AP PHOTO

The political drama in Baghdad was not likely to bring down Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government, but it highlights his growing isolation from the mood of most Iraqis, who want to see a timetable for an American troop withdrawal -- the reason given for the resignations.

The departure of the ministers shoves al-Maliki further under the wing of the U.S. military, a position he spent months trying to avoid.

Sadiq al-Rikabi, an adviser to al-Maliki, said that new ministers would be named "within the next few days."

The Mahdi Army, the military wing of al-Sadr's organization, went underground before the security crackdown began in Baghdad on Feb. 14. In the first two months of the operation to end killings in the capital, dozens of Mahdi Army commanders were rounded up, but al-Sadr kept the militia from fighting back, apparently out of loyalty to al-Maliki.

With the al-Maliki-al-Sadr link now severed, there are indications the pledge to maintain control of the militia may be broken as well. Between April 15 and April 17, 42 bodies were found. Such killings have been seen by U.S. and Iraqi authorities as the work of Shiite death squads associated with al-Sadr's militia.

The Japan Times Weekly: April 21, 2007
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