What say so? Several articles mention the warrant in 2003 (including the Memri one above and one of your below). Deciding not to enact it and a trigger a million man riot isn't a totally unreasonable thing. Deciding they may as well once the riot has started and people are dying is something else entirely.

Do you mean to say that this information regarding the warrant was public knowledge before the protests? AFAIK, the warrant seems to have been made public only upon the protests (though the allegation is that it is several months old).

Sadr makes lots of claims. Many of them inconsistent and some of them probably dishonest. Who cares what some maniac has to say?

It is not so much what he says but what he represents in a fashion, he is yet another indicator of how the CPA and IGC are not doing the best job they can. As to Sadr himself, I think he also indicates a very radical version of a belief that may slip into the mainstream if the CPA screws up what it started.

I think it's more than as seen in the media.

Very much within the realm of possibility.