Shiite militia marches in Iraq to back cleric critical of U.S.

Iraq Forum

By Reuters

Published April 4, 2004

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 3 — Thousands of supporters of a virulently anti-American Shiite cleric, Moktada al-Sadr, marched through the streets of Baghdad on Saturday.

Many were members of Mr. Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army. They paraded through Sadr City, the sprawling Shiite slum in the northeast of the Iraqi capital that is Mr. Sadr's power base. It was the militia's first major show of strength in months.

Some of the marchers wore black masks, and many carried banners and pictures of the cleric and of his father, who was assassinated in 1999. They were not armed. An American and an Israeli flag were set on fire.

"We are here to show the world our might," said Sadiq al-Hashimi, a cleric leading a group of marchers he identified as members of the Mahdi Army. "This army can be a striking force at any moment, it's a time bomb that will go off at a time and place it chooses."

A senior military official in Baghdad has estimated the number of the Mahdi Army in the "high hundreds to thousands" and said its antioccupation stand "concerns us greatly."

The Mahdi Army has kept a relatively low profile since October, when members of the militia ambushed American soldiers in Sadr City. Two soldiers and two Iraqis were killed.

Last Sunday, the American-led authorities closed down a newspaper that is considered Mr. Sadr's mouthpiece, accusing it of inciting violence. His supporters have held several major protests since then.

Also in Baghdad, gunmen killed the police chief of Mahmudiya, a town just south of the capital, as he was leaving his home in Baghdad.

The Associated Press reported that shortly afterward, according to a police officer, Khaldoon al-Gurairi, six attackers shot at a four-man police patrol in Mahmudiya, killing one and wounding three. A 60-year-old bystander was also killed.

On Friday, the police chief in Kufa, further south, was shot dead along with a colleague.

Bomb Topples Mosque in Baquba

BAQUBA, Iraq, Sunday, April 4 (Reuters) — A bomb exploded outside a small Shiite mosque in the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad, early on Sunday, destroying most of the building and wounding one person, witnesses said.

A Reuters television cameraman at the scene said the Al Rasool Al Adham mosque had collapsed from the force of the explosion, which went off after morning prayers, when the building was mostly empty.

So what else is new? America has always loved despotic local leaders if they only love it!

in any way, Muktada Al- sader is not what most iraqi people wants, he is a copy of Saddam in many ways

BBC

Shias 'kill US troops in Baghdad'
Seven US soldiers have been killed in fighting with Shia militia in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the US military says.
At least 24 American troops are said to have been wounded in the clashes in the Sadr City area.

Sunday also saw at least 20 killed and more than 100 injured in clashes between Spanish-led troops and Shia demonstrators in the city of Najaf.

One soldier from El Salvador and one from the US were reportedly killed in that firefight.

The US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said protesters had "crossed the line and moved to violence".

Radical

The Baghdad fighting broke out after members of a militia loyal to radical cleric Moqtada Sadr took control of police stations and government buildings in Sadr City, the US military said in a statement.

It said militiamen attacked the soldiers with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

Sadr City, on the eastern outskirts of the capital, is a stronghold of Moqtada Sadr supporters.


The violence in Baghdad came hours after a march by his followers on a coalition force base near Najaf ended in violence.
The protest took place outside the garrison of the Spanish military contingent, who lead the coalition forces in Najaf.

Troops from El Salvador and other Spanish-speaking countries are also based at the camp.

One of the marchers, Hussein Ali, said the first shots came from the demonstrators.

"Some protesters, who were armed, fired toward the Spanish troops, who responded by firing on the crowd. It was carnage," he said.

Moqtada Sadr
Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr is a young leader opposed to Iraqi co-operation with the US-led forces in the country. He has repeatedly called for foreign troops to leave Iraq, and his followers have held regular anti-US protests.
He is thought to be aged 30 - a youthful leader in a society which considers age and experience essential to religious authority.

To his supporters, Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr is a figurehead wise beyond his years. But his detractors see him as an inexperienced and impatient radical who aims to dominate Iraq's most revered Shia institutions.

The youngest son of Muhammad Sadiq Sadr - a senior Shia cleric assassinated in 1999, reportedly by agents of the Iraqi Government - Moqtada Sadr was virtually unknown outside Iraq before the US-led invasion in March 2003.

The collapse of Baathist rule revealed his power base: a network of Shia charitable institutions founded by his father.

Followers

In the first weeks following the US-led invasion, Moqtada Sadr's followers patrolled the streets in the poor Shia suburbs of Baghdad, distributing food.

His name clearly has powerful resonances - the Shia district of Baghdad, Saddam City, has been renamed Sadr City.

In June 2003 he established a militia group, the Mehdi Army, in defiance of coalition arms controls, pledging the Shia religious authorities in the holy city of Najaf.

He also announced the establishment of a rival government to the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, but the move came to nothing.

Moqtada Sadr has also set up a weekly newspaper, al-Hawza. The US-led authorities announced a 60-day ban on the newspaper on 28 March 2004, accusing it of inciting anti-US violence.

The young cleric is known for giving fiery sermons which urge the application of Islamic law while appealing to Iraqi national pride.

In contrast to more moderate clerics such as Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Moqtada Sadr calls on Shia spiritual leaders to play an active role in shaping Iraq's political future.

In April 2003, just two days after the fall of Baghdad, supporters of Moqtada Sadr were accused of killing Abdul Majid al-Khoei, a moderate Shia leader who had worked with the British and US governments from exile.

Moqtada Sadr strongly denied any role in the murder.

The young cleric's supporters have also clashed with followers of Ayatollah Sistani - who has become prominent in the run-up to the planned handover of power to Iraqis on 30 June.

Moqtada Sadr denounced the August 2003 attack on the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad.

The young cleric has visited neighbouring Iran since Saddam Hussein was ousted, meeting senior officials in Tehran.

people in Iraq compair Muktada to Uday (Saddam's son) there are a lot of similareties between both