Inside Sadr headquarters

McClatchy reporters Hannah Allam and Laith Hammoudi describe their recent trip to Muqtada al-Sadr's headquarters for western Baghdad. The reporters happened to be there when a group of about 50 gunmen stormed the headquarters, initiating an armed standoff with Mahdi Army militiamen. Allam and Hammoudi write:

The groups walked toward each other as if in a high-noon duel. A voice from the crowd called for blessings in the name of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Sadr's soldiers began to shout age-old prayers for the prophet and his descendants, then added the Sadr camp's innovation: "Bring salvation soon, and damn their enemies!"

With the air filled with the clicking sound of weapons being prepared, visiting McClatchy journalists fled.