al-Sadr in Iran

Yahoo! News An adviser to Iraq's prime minister said Thursday that radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is in Iran, but denied he fled due to fear of arrest during an escalating security crackdown.

He just had to go to Iran to get some clean underwear, because he soiled what he had when he learned of the surge.

Sami al-Askari said al-Sadr traveled to Iran by land

So you cant say it was "flight".

"a few days ago," but gave no further details on how long he would stay. A member of al-Sadr's bloc in parliament, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals, said he left three weeks ago. "I confirm that Muqtada al-Sadr is in Iran on a visit," said al-Askari. "But I deny that his visit is a flight."

Because he traveled by land. But he did it really quick, and did not tell anyone he was leaving.

Another lawmaker loyal to al-Sadr, Saleh al-Ukaili, insisted that al-Sadr is in Iraq and claimed the accounts of his departure were part of a "campaign by the U.S. military" to track down the elusive cleric.

Why should they be tracking him down, unless he is doing something he should not do.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have increased pressure on backers of the anti-American cleric and other militants in a major security operation that began in force this week.

And the fact that al Sadr is in Iran, along with a lot of his key people, "for consultation", and the fact that the Mahdi Army has been told to hide its weapons and not do anything in public, shows the bad guys are worried about the Surge, no matter what the Dems say.

Conflicting reports on al-Sadr's whereabouts have been exchanged for days.