The Amara upheaval erupted less than 48 hours after Mr. Maliki flew to Najaf from Baghdad to see Mr. Sadr and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani , Iraq 's most powerful Shiite cleric , and urged both men to rein in the Mahdi Army , which American commanders have identified as having been responsible for much of the sectarian killing in recent months .
Iraq
Baghdad
/location/country/capital
Iraq
Najaf
/location/location/contains
Iraq
Baghdad
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PERSON
Maliki
LOCATION
Najaf
LOCATION
Baghdad
PERSON
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
LOCATION
Iraq