Anti-US Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has received an enthusiastic welcome in the Iraqi city of Najaf. Following chaotic scenes as he visited a shrine, Moqtada Sadr urged his supporters to show discipline.Fine one to talk...
The radical cleric has returned to his stronghold in the city after three years in self-imposed exile in Iran. On Thursday he visited one of the holiest sites of Shia Islam, the shrine of the Imam Ali, where thousands of his supporters gathered, chanting loudly and causing a stampede as they jostled to see him.
"My life just won't be complete if I can't catch a glimpse of His Corpulenceness!"
"His return is a victory for just people. It's a great pleasure for us, especially because his movement is to participate in the government," one Sadr supporter told AFP news agency. "That means there that no security problems will happen - no battles or confrontation with the government, as happened before."
"He'll be pooping unicorn dust!"
"Er, lady, that job has been taken..."
Moqtada Sadr later issued a statement criticising his followers' behaviour, telling them: "I did not know you like that."
"But it was good for me too!"
"Your indiscipline while I was performing my religious rituals bothered me and hurt me. I beg you to be disciplined, and not to shout excessive slogans," he said. "The stampede hurt me, and hurt others, and this will tarnish the image of our movement in the eyes of others."
Nah Mookie, you're doing a hellavah job on that yourself, hellavah job...