Analysis: Iraq Crisis Propels al-Sadr
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-27 09:57

Al-Sadr the menacing face of Shiite street power became al-Sadr the voice of religious brotherhood and Iraqi pride.

Returning home to Najaf on Sunday, al-Sadr told his followers that "there is no such thing as Sunni or Shiite mosques. The mosques are for all Iraqi people and for all Muslims."

He even offered his Mahdi Army fighters to protect Sunni mosques — some of which were seized by his followers according to Sunni politicians.

Al-Sadr has also turned to hardline Sunni clerics who share his opposition to the U.S. presence in Iraq. Even before he returned home, al-Sadr's movement then signed an agreement Saturday with the Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars to prohibit killing members of the two sects and banning attacks on each other's mosques.

A joint statement blamed the presence of American and other coalition forces for the sectarian crisis and urged them to withdraw as soon as possible.

The association is believed to have links to at least some of the Sunni insurgent groups. The agreement thus provides al-Sadr with an opportunity to broaden his influence among the disaffected minority to a greater extent than any other Shiite leader.

All this represents a major challenge both to mainstream Shiite parties and to the United States — especially if al-Jaafari is confirmed as prime minister and grants al-Sadr's followers major posts in the new government.

That would put supporters of the avowedly anti-American al-Sadr in key decision-making positions in the ministries. The youthful al-Sadr is likely to remain a powerful force in the Shiite community long after the elderly moderates like Ayatollah al-Sistani have left the stage.

In the short term, al-Sadr is likely to resist pressure to disband his militia, a major U.S. goal. On Sunday, al-Sadr suggested instead that his militia should be given a formal role to work "in coordination with the Iraqi government, army, police and people."

Militias undercut the U.S. hope of creating a professional Iraqi army that will then secure the country, and allow American troops to begin going home.

Just as important, al-Sadr's vision for Iraq is markedly different from that of the United States or the Westernized politicians such as ex-Prime Minister Ayad Allawi that the United States has tacitly supported.

Areas under the control of al-Sadr's militia provide insights into what an Iraq run by the Sadrists may look like. In Basra, al-Sadr's militiamen have reportedly bombed stores suspected of selling liquor or permissive entertainment material, according to residents.

They routinely berate women whose appearance they deem immodest.

More alarming are al-Sadr's links to some of the most radical elements in the Middle East, including the clerical regime in Iran and the hardline government in Syria, both of whom welcomed on visits this month.

On his visit to Syria, al-Sadr praised Hamas' victory in the Palestinian elections.

"I hope it is the beginning of an Islamic awakening and that it will be the start ... of Islam's triumph in other Islamic countries," he said.