Sadrist traitor defects
Al-Shamri has found a new life in the US after spilling the beans, reports Nermeen Al-Mufti from Baghdad
Despite operations imposing law, which started three months ago, Baghdad is still a city haunted by death. An average of 24 dead bodies, all killed in mysterious circumstances, are found in the capital's streets every day. According to US reports, May has been one of the worst months for the US forces -- over 115 US servicemen have been killed so far.
The most important news of the week, however, was the reappearance of Moqtada Al-Sadr. The Shia leader who has been in hiding since February appeared in the Koufa Mosque during the Friday prayers. According to US authorities, Al-Sadr was in Iran, hiding with other leaders of the Mahdi Army. But Al-Sadr aides say that he was living a secluded life in Najaf and never left the country. Al-Maliki's government has not commented on the matter. A media source close to Al-Sadr told me that he used to call him from an Iraqi mobile phone during the entire period he was in hiding.
As soon as he reappeared, Al-Sadr called on the occupation forces to withdraw or set a timetable for withdrawal. But, aside from his surprising reappearance, something else is likely to attract media attention to Al-Sadr. The former health minister and one- time Sadrist, Ali Al-Shamri, who withdrew from the government after Al-Sadr pulled his ministers from the cabinet, has applied for asylum in the US.
Much has been said about the former health minister, including claims that he turned the Health Ministry into a haven for death squads. The accusations against Al-Shamri intensified after Ali Al-Mahdawi, health chief in Diyali, disappeared a year ago. Al-Mahdawi had come to meet Al-Shamri to discuss his nomination by the (Sunni) Reconciliation Block for the job of deputy health minister. After entering Al-Shamri's office, he was never seen again.
| Al-Shamri was holding out the promise of his sister, Lucretia, in marriage, you see. |
The daily Al-Zaman claims that Al-Shamri, who is accused of leading the death squads and selling bodies from the Baghdad morgue, gave the Americans information about the Mahdi Army in return for asylum.
Al-Shamri is said to have provided the US authorities in Iraq with detailed information about Iranian weapon supplies to the Mahdi Army, the connections between the Mahdi Army commanders and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the safe houses in which the Mahdi army commanders meet in Baghdad, and the names of those commanders. The information he provided enticed the Americans to grant him asylum and move him aboard a helicopter from Baghdad to a US airport... |