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| Iraq-Jordan | |
| Fresh Shi'ite condemnation of Muqtada | |
| 2004-05-07 | |
| Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr's uprising was dealt a pair of blows as the Shiite Muslim establishment in this holy city told them to return to their homes, while US troops killed 20 of his militiamen. Respected cleric Sheikh Sadreddin Kubbanji issued an unequivocal denunciation of Sadr's Mehdi Army in a sign that US political and military pressure could be bearing fruit and time may be running out on Sadr's month-long insurrection. "Listen to the advice of the learned ones. You are our beloved youth and we care about you, but go back to your home where you came from and fight the occupation and the Baathists there," Kubbanji told thousands of worshippers at weekly Friday prayers at the Imam Ali Mausoleum, one of the most revered shrines in Shia Islam. "The Najafis will be responsible for protecting Najaf," he said of the holy city, 130 kilometres (80 miles) south of Baghdad. Minutes later, gun-toting militiamen from the Badr Organisation, the armed wing of the main Shiite political party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (news - web sites), whisked Kubbanji away. Tensions have long festered between Sadr and the city's senior clerics, but Kubbanji, who has strong ties with the Shiites' most influential religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, had been reluctant to lash out at Sadr. The city has tired of the US military's month-long siege of the city, and Sadr's rebellion has deflated considerably. His men have lost control of cities they seized in April including Karbala, Diwaniya, Nasiriyah and Kut.
Another eight militiamen were killed and 14 others wounded during fighting with US troops in nearby the shrine city of Karbala, a doctor said there. Medics carried the bodies of men, clothed in the Mehdi Army's black uniform, and ambulances pulled up with more casualties at the city's general hospital. Yet Sadr carried on defiantly Friday afternoon, circumventing US checkpoints on foot with armed followers to deliver a fire-and-brimstone sermon in Kufa. Sadr, who promised his followers Tuesday he would lead them to martyrdom, demanded that US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) stand trial in Iraq over the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib detention centre. A top coalition official said Thursday the Americans were holding talks with sheikhs and tribal leaders as part of their bid to isolate Sadr and promised "several hundred million" dollars to spend in and around the city to try to wrest control of the area from the cleric's armed followers. The US-led coalition also plans to strengthen the security forces in Najaf, and nearby Karbala, to drive out Sadr's men. | |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #5 This is what Nostradom..err...Wretchard at Belmont Club was predicting. Who is this guy? Enquiring minds want to know. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2004-05-07 8:04:15 PM |
| #4 Minutes later, gun-toting militiamen from the Badr Organisation, the armed wing of the main Shiite political party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (news - web sites), whisked Kubbanji away A shoot-out between the Badr Brigade and the Sadr Mehdi Army over the corpses of any number of learned ones would make good TV. Wonder if Al Jazeera would show it? |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-05-07 7:18:55 PM |
| #3 ". . . go back to your home where you came from and fight the occupation and the Baathists there." Every "respected cleric" for himself. Note - "respected cleric' is an oxymoron. |
| Posted by: Jake 2004-05-07 6:11:07 PM |
| #2 "Listen to the advice of the learned ones. You are our beloved youth and we care about you, but go back to your home where you came from and fight the occupation and the Baathists there," Bzzzt! Sorry, wrong answer. Please come back and try again later. This is not any "advice of the learned ones," this is a great way to get your head blown off and little else. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-05-07 5:27:29 PM |
| #1 Nice. Sadr's got to be sweating. At this point I think its better if we don't kill him. No need to turn this loser into a martyr--he and his followers are increasingly shunned by the Shia general population. The only thing that can slow that trend is if we kill him. Best now if the Badr Organizations captures him and turns him over for trial. Still, I would shed no tears if we turned Tater into hash browns. |
| Posted by: sludj 2004-05-07 4:28:04 PM |