A renegade Mahdi Army militia commander is responsible for the kidnapping Sunday of 10 Shiite and Sunni tribal leaders.
Arkan Hasnawi, identified as a former brigade commander in Jaysh Al Mahdi, was behind the kidnappings, which took place in the Diyala Province as the chiefs were returning from a meeting in Baghdad with a representative of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
In August, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his Mahdi Army fighters to law down their arms for up to six months in an attempt to stop attacks and reduce violence in the region.
-Samantha Giles
