Iraq's Sadr appears in public after long absence

Source: Reuters

Iraq's Sadr appears in public after long absence
25 May 2007 09:05:50 GMT

KUFA, Iraq, May 25 (Reuters) - Fiery anti-American cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr attended Friday prayers in the holy Shi'ite
city of Kufa, his first public appearance since the start of
a major U.S.-backed security crackdown in Iraq in February.

A Reuters reporter saw him enter Kufa mosque surrounded by
bodyguards and close aides.

The U.S. military has said he went into hiding in Iran in
January to escape the crackdown, but aides to the young
cleric, who led two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004,
say he never left Kufa.

While there will be much speculation as to why he has chosen
to appear in public now after keeping a low profile for so many
months, his sudden re-emergence comes at a critical time
in Iraqi politics.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25224172.htm

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Source: Associated Press

Radical cleric al-Sadr arrives at mosque

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer
6 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr appeared in
public for the first time in months on Friday and delivered a
fiery anti-American sermon in the holy Shiite city of Kufa.

"No, no for the devil. No, no for America. No, no for the
occupation. No, no for Israel," he chanted at the start of his
speech. The roughly 6,000 worshippers in the mosque
repeated after him.

Al-Sadr had gone into hiding in Iran four months ago at the
start of the Baghdad security crackdown, but U.S. military
officials said early Friday that he had returned to the holy
city of Najaf, where he has a house.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070525/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

at some point :shrug:

~snip~

Al-Sadr's movement is wooing Sunni leaders and purging extremists in the cleric's Mahdi Army militia in an attempt to strengthen his image as a nationalist who can lead all Iraqis at a time when anti-war sentiments are growing in the United States and Iraq's political landscape is fractured.

Al-Sadr's apparent re-emergence comes days after his main Shiite rival, the influential cleric Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, went to Iran for treatment of lung cancer. Hakim also is trying to strike a nationalist stance, recently renaming his party from the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq to the Supreme Islamic Council in Iraq.

There are growing signs that extremists in al-Sadr's militia are disobeying his orders to stand down, as U.S. troops raid and patrol their strongholds.

After three months of sharp declines, sectarian violence is rising again in Baghdad, a possible indication that Shiite militiamen are resuming reprisal attacks. Al-Sadr's aides have described the cleric's orders as intended to improve his credibility and dispel allegations that the Mahdi Army was fueling sectarian violence.

more:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003721371_iraq25.html?syndication=rss

Radical cleric reappears, as influential as ever by Paul Schemm
5 minutes ago



BAGHDAD (AFP) - Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's dramatic reappearance at the Friday prayers in central Iraq's Kufa mosque underlined his continuing influence on the troubled nation's political scene.

Despite having disappeared entirely from public view since October -- and possibly even fleeing the country in January, according to US officials -- the young cleric and his movement have remained in the limelight.

Initially underestimated by US authorities and Iraqi officials, the son of revered Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr has shown that he could pull political strings even from his undisclosed location.

After throwing his weight behind Shiite politician Nuri al-Maliki, ensuring that he became Iraq's prime minister a year ago, Sadr then ordered his followers to pull out of the premier's cabinet in April.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070525/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpoliticssadr_070525104944

Source: Associated Press

Al-Sadr calls for U.S. pullout from Iraq

By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer
42 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr resurfaced Friday
after nearly four months in hiding and demanded U.S. troops leave
Iraq, a development likely to complicate U.S. efforts to crack down
on violence and broker political compromise in the country.

-snip-

His return to the Shiite holy city of Najaf appeared to be an
effort by the 33-year-old firebrand cleric to regain control over
his militia, which had begun fragmenting, and to take advantage of
the illness of a Shiite rival. There had also been some indication
that his absence from the national arena was costing him political
support.

-snip-

"We demand the withdrawal of the occupation forces, or the creation
of a timetable for such a withdrawal," he said, wiping sweat from
his brow with a white cloth as temperatures hovered at 113 degrees.
"I call upon the Iraqi government not to extend the occupation even
for a single day."

While the call for a U.S. pullout was nothing new, al-Sadr also
peppered his speech with nationalist overtones, criticizing the
government for not providing services, appealing to his followers
not to fight with Iraqi security forces and reaching out to Sunnis.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070525/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq