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Iraq : Najaf stand-off between US forces and Al-Sadr |
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After a massive US offensive backed by fighter aircraft and the helicopter gunships on the Shia-controlled city of Najaf to force the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to abandon resistance and leave the city, efforts are on to end the nine-day deadlock. With truce talks going on, the US military said on Aug 13, it is suspending the offensive operation against al-Sadr’s Mehdi army militia who are holed up in the Imam Ali shrine. US forces raided his house in Najaf but could not find him. He is reported to have been hit by a shrapnel. But, he has refused to give up and rather asked his Mehdi militia to fight to death. He himself has vowed to achieve martyrdom saying he would go down fighting rather than surrendering. The US forces are quite capable of launching a successive offensive against his forces entrenched in and around the Imam Ali shrine, one of the holiest shrines of Shias, as well as a sprawling cemetery close by. But, they are afraid that an attack on the shrine and any possible damage to it, revered by Shiites all over the world, would trigger a massive country-wide uprising against the US forces. In order to avoid such a possibility, the US forces are training the newly-raised Iraqi national army because an attack by the Iraqi army units against al-Sadr forces holding out in the shrine will not be considered so offensive.
It is nine days now since the standoff began between al-Sadr and the American forces after they suspended the offensive. The US forces say they killed at least 360 loyalists of Sadr’s Mehdi army, a claim denied by al-Sadr who said no more than 40 people died. US Marines backed by tanks and aircraft seized the heart of the holy city of Najaf on Aug 12 in a major assault on Shia rebels. But, they kept out of the sacred site. Warplanes and apache helicopters pounded the militia’s position in a cemetery near the Imam Ali mosque, ignoring protests in some cities. The US Marines who also attacked al-Sadr’s house, have sealed off entry to the shrine. In a new tactic to try to quell violence, US military vehicles equipped with loudspeakers drove through the streets asking civilians to leave parts of Najaf or else they would be killed. Oil prices on the world market hit new highs in the light of the US offensive which the militia has warned could trigger more attacks on oil infrastructure.
Political observers say, the US and Iraqi Government forces risked a violent religious backlash as they close in on the Imam Ali shrine, in their final assault on Najaf.
Najaf lies 180 km south of Baghdad. On May 25, during an earlier standoff with the Mehdi army before a truce brought a lull in the fighting, a mortar round exploded inside the mausoleum, injuring some people and damaging the upper part of one of the main gold-covered gates leading to the tomb. The Mehdi Army blamed US forces which denied responsibility. Earlier in the month each side accused the other of firing shots that punctured the dome. Near the mausoleum is the “Valley of Peace”, the largest burial brail site in the Islamic world, a stronghold of the Mehdi army that has been the scene of heavy fighting in the past week.
Most of those who take up arms for 30-year old al-Sadr are young and poor. A minority is also well-educated. They revile Saddam Hussein who spent his time as a Sunni leader persecuting them. But, their eagerness to fight now is largely born out of frustration that the war and occupation has brought little material change to their lives. Added to this is their avowed religious conviction. The other Shia parties hold little appeal for the fighters. They just use Islamic slogans to cover up what they are doing, said one of al-Sadr’s supporters. Al-Sadr is a nationalist and he demands the rights of the Iraqi people and the rights of the poor. He is the only one who did not betray the people and cooperate with the Americans.
The fighters in Najaf have rallied behind al-Sadr, the scion of a highly respected clerical family, because unlike all other major Shia political leaders he has so far shunned involvement in the pro-American governments. Although his radicalism is rejected by many middle class Shias, he carries a broad appeal for those looking for a revolutionary streak in the Shia faith in Iraq. It was his father’s cousin, Mohammed Baqr al-Sadr, who began the activist or “spoken” school in Najaf’s Shia clerical community, advocating an Islamic State through revolution until he was killed in 1979. Muqtada’s father, Muhammad Sadeq al-Sadr, also acquired reputation as a social activist until he was assassinated in 1999. Since last year’s invasion, his son has sought to claim that activist’s mantle too.
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