Al-Mahdi Army
One Iraqi Shi'a religious family which opposed working with the US-led occupation [and trying to get control from the al-Hakim family] is the al-Sadr family, which calls itself "The Active Religious Seminary". Until recently it was headed by Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, who was assassinated along with two of his sons by presumed agents of Hussein in Al-Najaf in 1999.
The loyalty of many of his supporters passed to another son, Hojatoleslam Muqtada al-Sadr, a mid-level cleric about 30 years of age. Unlike his father, Muqtada had little formal religious standing to interpret the Koran, and relied for religious authority on an Iran-based Iraqi exiled cleric, Ayatollah Kazem al-Haeri, who was a student of Bakir al-Sadr. The militia wing of this movement was known as the "Mahdi Army" and was estimated as of early 2004 to consist of about 500-1000 trained combatants along with another 5,000-6,000 active participants. According to another US DOD estimate, the Mahdi Army was a group of about 3,000 lightly armed devotees of Sadr before operations against the group started. It was a small group on the margins, and while it wass unknown how large the group is, it had been degraded.
Some younger Shiites have contended for power with the more traditional Shiite Muslims in the city and region. Sheik Muqtada al-Sadr and his young followers have sought to replace more traditional factions as the voice of Iraq's Shiite majority. The al-Sadr family portrays themselves as the ones doing the most to redress decades of suppression by Sunni Muslims under the Saddam's rule.
The al-Sadr group has drawn charges of involvement in attacks and intimidation in Al-Najaf that have highlighted political differences among Shi'a political organizations. The most notable of those attacks was a mob killing of a pro-US cleric, Abd al-Majid al-Khoi, shortly after his return from exile in London in early April. Al-Khoi was himself the son of another extremely powerful former grand ayatollah, Abolqassem al-Khoi. Al-Khoi was murdered as he emerged from the city's Imam Ali Mosque in a gesture of reconciliation with the mosque's custodian, who was popularly considered to have collaborated with Hussein's regime. The custodian was killed along with al-Khoi and it is unclear whether al-Khoi was an assassination target or was struck down because he tried to defend the other man.
Immediately after al-Khoi's murder, supporters of al-Sadr surrounded the house of another grand ayatollah in Al-Najaf, Ali Sistani, in what was taken to be a gesture of intimidation. Sistani -- who has said that Shi'a leaders should limit themselves to religious questions and stay out of politics -- went into hiding and only re-emerged after tribesmen loyal to him raced to Al-Najaf.
Al-Sadr's group denied it had anything to do with the April 2003 attempt on the elder al-Hakim, and said Hussein loyalists were to blame. But in 2004 an Iraqi judge issued an arrest warrant for al-Sadr in connection with the killing of Ayatollah Abd al-Majid al-Khoi in 2003.
Mustafa Al-Yaqubi was detained on April 3, 2004 in connection with the April 2003 murder of Ayatollah Sayyed Abdul Majeed al-Khoei. An Iraqi judge issued a warrant for Mr. Yaqubi's arrest as a result of an Iraqi criminal investigation and indictment. He was taken into custody at his home in An Najaf.
In early April 2004 the militia of Muqtada Al Sadr's army -- Jaysh Mahdi or Mahdi Army -- attempted to interfere with security in Baghdad, intimidate Iraqi citizens and place them in danger. The militia attempted to occupy and gain control of police stations and government buildings. During this attack, this illegal militia engaged coalition forces and ISF with small arms fire and RPGs. Coalition forces and Iraqi security forces prevented this effort and reestablished security in Baghdad. Coalition troops fought gun battles with members of Muqtada al-Sadr's Imam Al-Mahdi Army militia in the southern cities of Al-Nassiriyah, Amara, and Kut. Clashes etween al-Sadr's Al-Mahdi Army and coalition troops south of Baghdad tested the resolve of the United States' partners in Iraq.
By 07 April 2004 US-led coalition forces were involved in the most widespread fighting in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein a year ago. Troops battled Shiite militias in half a dozen Iraqi towns and cities from near Kirkuk in the north to Basra in the south.
As of 08 April 2004 the Al-Mahdi Army had taken full control of the city of Al-Kut and partial control of Al-Najaf. Residents of Al-Kufah said militiamen had some control of that city as well. In Karbala, Polish and Bulgarian troops fought Al-Mahdi Army militants as hundreds of thousands of Shi'ites were gathering ahead of a religious festival. The Polish Army said commanders were meeting with moderate Shi'ite clerics after radicals demanded the withdrawal of coalition forces.
Hundreds of loyalists to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr attacked British troops Saturday 08 May 2004 in the center of Basra, south of Baghdad. They also assaulted the governor's offices there, and fired rocket-propelled grenades at the coalition headquarters. The British sent in reinforcements, tanks and armored vehicles to secure the area. Several Iraqi insurgents were killed in the gun battles. The violence erupted a day after a cleric in Basra told worshippers he would offer cash rewards for the killing or capture of British and American troops. He also said anyone who captured female soldiers could keep them as slaves. The cleric, Sheikh Abdul-Sattar al-Bahadli, said his offer was in response to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers. Al-Bahadli is the Basra representative of hard- line Shiite leader Muqtada al- Sadr.
Background
The distinguished leader Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir Al-Sadr was a co-founder of the Islamic political movement in Iraq established in the late 1950s, along with Sayed Al-Hakim and other scholars. Sayed Al-Hakim's association with Ayatollah Al-Sadr continued after his release in 1979, when Ayatollah Al-Sadr was put under house arrest. Sayed Al-Hakim assumed the responsibility of conducting clandestine contact with Ayatollah Al-Sadr. Sayed Al-Hakim maintained a close association with Ayatollah Al-Sadr up to the martyrdom of Ayatollah Al-Sadr in 1980. In April 1980 Ayatollah Al-Sadr was murdered by Saddam's regime.
Grand Ayatollah Mohammad al-Sadr, age 66, was killed in February 1999 along with two of his sons. Former UN Commission Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Iraq, Max Van Der Stoel, sent a letter in 1999 to the Baath Government expressing his concern that the killings might be part of an organized attack by the Baath Government against the independent leadership of the Shi’a community. the Baath Government did not responded to Van Der Stoel’s inquiries.
In the aftermath of these killings, the Baath Government increased repressive activities in the south and in other predominantly Shi’a areas to prevent mourning observances and popular demonstrations. As part of this campaign, two Shi’a scholars in Baghdad, Sheikh Hussain Suwai’dawi, and Sheikh Ali al-Fraijawi, reportedly were executed in July 1998.
In April 1999, the Baath Government executed four Shi’a men for the al-Sadr slaying after a closed trial. Shi’a religious authorities and opposition groups objected to the trial process and contend that the four executed men were innocent. At least one of the four, Sheikh Abdul Hassan Abbas Kufi, a prayer leader in Najaf, reportedly was in prison at the time of the killing. The Shi’a press reported in January 1999 that he had been arrested on December 24, 1998. The three others executed with Kufi were Islamic scholar Ahmad Mustapha Hassan Ardabily, Ali Kathim Mahjan, and Haider Ali Hussain. The status of Ali al-Musawi, another Shi'a cleric accused of complicity in al-Sadr’s death, still is unknown. According to a report submitted to the Special Rapporteur in September 1999, one of al-Sadr’s sons, Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr, was arrested along with a large number of theological students who had studied under the Ayatollah. Nineteen followers of al-Sadr reportedly were executed toward the end of 1999, including Sheikh Muhammad al-Numani, Friday imam Sheikh Abd-al-Razzaq al-Rabi’i, assistant Friday imam Kazim al-Safi, and students from a religious seminary in Najaf.
Although a funeral for al-Sadr was prohibited, spontaneous gatherings of mourners took place in the days after his death. Government security forces used excessive force in breaking up these illegal religious gatherings. Throughout the country, security forces used automatic weapons and armored vehicles to break up demonstrations, killing, injuring, and arresting hundreds of protesters.
Authorities targeted suspected supporters of al-Sadr since he was killed in 1999. In February 2000, 30 Najaf religious school students, who were arrested after al-Sadr's death, reportedly were executed. In March 2000, scores of Shi’a who fled the country in 1999 and early 2000 told Human Rights Watch that they had been interrogated repeatedly and, in some cases, detained and tortured. Some were relatives of al-Sadr’s students who had been arrested after the killing and others were relatives of other prominent clerics. In May 2000, according to Human Rights Watch, at least six religious students in Najaf who were arrested after al-Sadr’s killing were sentenced to death, including Shaikh Salim Jassem al-Abbudi, Shaikh Nasser al-Saa’idi, and Sa’ad al-Nuri. Two clerics, Abdulsattar Abed-Ibrahim al-Mausawi and Ahmad al-Hashemi, reportedly were executed in May 2000 after 6 months' detention. The Baath Government accused them of attempting to discredit the President after they blamed Saddam Hussein for al-Sadr's killing. In late 1999 and early 2000, approximately 4,000 Shi’a families were expelled from Baghdad and sent to southern and western Iraq in reprisal for the disturbances that took place after al-Sadr’s death.
Authorities took forceful preemptive measures well ahead of the first anniversary of al-Sadr’s killing. Military units were deployed around shrines, mosques, and other religious institutions 2 months before the February anniversary. the Baath Government closed mosques except during prayer time, and the turnout on the holy day of Ashura in April 2001 consequently was many times lower than it had been in the past. In late May 2001, the Ba’ath party reportedly issued orders prohibiting the ritual walking pilgrimage from Najaf to Karbala, a procession marking the end of the 40-day mourning period for Imam Husayn. Travelers reported that security troops opened fire on pilgrims who attempted the pilgrimage.
In the aftermath of the al-Sadr killing and subsequent repression, the Shi’a religious community remained in a precarious state. Many scholars at the Shi’a religious schools in Najaf reportedly have been arrested, as have many of al-Sadr’s religious appointees throughout the country. These restrictions and abuses had an adverse affect on the development of a new set of Shi’a leaders.
The al-Sadr killing intensified Shi’a anger at the ruling Sunni minority and led to more severe government repression of the Shi’a. The Shi'a resistance also took the form of bolder actions against the regime, including hand grenade and rocket attacks on security headquarters, Ba’ath Party offices, and presidential residences in Baghdad, as well as small arms attacks in many parts of the capital. The al-Amin, Nuwab ad-Dubbat, and al-Nafth districts of Baghdad reportedly have remained in a heightened state of alert every Friday since al-Sadr’s death.
The loyalty of many of his supporters passed to another son, Hojatoleslam Muqtada al-Sadr, a mid-level cleric about 30 years of age. Unlike his father, Muqtada had little formal religious standing to interpret the Koran, and relied for religious authority on an Iran-based Iraqi exiled cleric, Ayatollah Kazem al-Haeri, who was a student of Bakir al-Sadr. The militia wing of this movement was known as the "Mahdi Army" and was estimated as of early 2004 to consist of about 500-1000 trained combatants along with another 5,000-6,000 active participants. According to another US DOD estimate, the Mahdi Army was a group of about 3,000 lightly armed devotees of Sadr before operations against the group started. It was a small group on the margins, and while it wass unknown how large the group is, it had been degraded.
Some younger Shiites have contended for power with the more traditional Shiite Muslims in the city and region. Sheik Muqtada al-Sadr and his young followers have sought to replace more traditional factions as the voice of Iraq's Shiite majority. The al-Sadr family portrays themselves as the ones doing the most to redress decades of suppression by Sunni Muslims under the Saddam's rule.
The al-Sadr group has drawn charges of involvement in attacks and intimidation in Al-Najaf that have highlighted political differences among Shi'a political organizations. The most notable of those attacks was a mob killing of a pro-US cleric, Abd al-Majid al-Khoi, shortly after his return from exile in London in early April. Al-Khoi was himself the son of another extremely powerful former grand ayatollah, Abolqassem al-Khoi. Al-Khoi was murdered as he emerged from the city's Imam Ali Mosque in a gesture of reconciliation with the mosque's custodian, who was popularly considered to have collaborated with Hussein's regime. The custodian was killed along with al-Khoi and it is unclear whether al-Khoi was an assassination target or was struck down because he tried to defend the other man.
Immediately after al-Khoi's murder, supporters of al-Sadr surrounded the house of another grand ayatollah in Al-Najaf, Ali Sistani, in what was taken to be a gesture of intimidation. Sistani -- who has said that Shi'a leaders should limit themselves to religious questions and stay out of politics -- went into hiding and only re-emerged after tribesmen loyal to him raced to Al-Najaf.
Al-Sadr's group denied it had anything to do with the April 2003 attempt on the elder al-Hakim, and said Hussein loyalists were to blame. But in 2004 an Iraqi judge issued an arrest warrant for al-Sadr in connection with the killing of Ayatollah Abd al-Majid al-Khoi in 2003.
Mustafa Al-Yaqubi was detained on April 3, 2004 in connection with the April 2003 murder of Ayatollah Sayyed Abdul Majeed al-Khoei. An Iraqi judge issued a warrant for Mr. Yaqubi's arrest as a result of an Iraqi criminal investigation and indictment. He was taken into custody at his home in An Najaf.
In early April 2004 the militia of Muqtada Al Sadr's army -- Jaysh Mahdi or Mahdi Army -- attempted to interfere with security in Baghdad, intimidate Iraqi citizens and place them in danger. The militia attempted to occupy and gain control of police stations and government buildings. During this attack, this illegal militia engaged coalition forces and ISF with small arms fire and RPGs. Coalition forces and Iraqi security forces prevented this effort and reestablished security in Baghdad. Coalition troops fought gun battles with members of Muqtada al-Sadr's Imam Al-Mahdi Army militia in the southern cities of Al-Nassiriyah, Amara, and Kut. Clashes etween al-Sadr's Al-Mahdi Army and coalition troops south of Baghdad tested the resolve of the United States' partners in Iraq.
By 07 April 2004 US-led coalition forces were involved in the most widespread fighting in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein a year ago. Troops battled Shiite militias in half a dozen Iraqi towns and cities from near Kirkuk in the north to Basra in the south.
As of 08 April 2004 the Al-Mahdi Army had taken full control of the city of Al-Kut and partial control of Al-Najaf. Residents of Al-Kufah said militiamen had some control of that city as well. In Karbala, Polish and Bulgarian troops fought Al-Mahdi Army militants as hundreds of thousands of Shi'ites were gathering ahead of a religious festival. The Polish Army said commanders were meeting with moderate Shi'ite clerics after radicals demanded the withdrawal of coalition forces.
Hundreds of loyalists to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr attacked British troops Saturday 08 May 2004 in the center of Basra, south of Baghdad. They also assaulted the governor's offices there, and fired rocket-propelled grenades at the coalition headquarters. The British sent in reinforcements, tanks and armored vehicles to secure the area. Several Iraqi insurgents were killed in the gun battles. The violence erupted a day after a cleric in Basra told worshippers he would offer cash rewards for the killing or capture of British and American troops. He also said anyone who captured female soldiers could keep them as slaves. The cleric, Sheikh Abdul-Sattar al-Bahadli, said his offer was in response to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers. Al-Bahadli is the Basra representative of hard- line Shiite leader Muqtada al- Sadr.
Background
The distinguished leader Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir Al-Sadr was a co-founder of the Islamic political movement in Iraq established in the late 1950s, along with Sayed Al-Hakim and other scholars. Sayed Al-Hakim's association with Ayatollah Al-Sadr continued after his release in 1979, when Ayatollah Al-Sadr was put under house arrest. Sayed Al-Hakim assumed the responsibility of conducting clandestine contact with Ayatollah Al-Sadr. Sayed Al-Hakim maintained a close association with Ayatollah Al-Sadr up to the martyrdom of Ayatollah Al-Sadr in 1980. In April 1980 Ayatollah Al-Sadr was murdered by Saddam's regime.
Grand Ayatollah Mohammad al-Sadr, age 66, was killed in February 1999 along with two of his sons. Former UN Commission Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Iraq, Max Van Der Stoel, sent a letter in 1999 to the Baath Government expressing his concern that the killings might be part of an organized attack by the Baath Government against the independent leadership of the Shi’a community. the Baath Government did not responded to Van Der Stoel’s inquiries.
In the aftermath of these killings, the Baath Government increased repressive activities in the south and in other predominantly Shi’a areas to prevent mourning observances and popular demonstrations. As part of this campaign, two Shi’a scholars in Baghdad, Sheikh Hussain Suwai’dawi, and Sheikh Ali al-Fraijawi, reportedly were executed in July 1998.
In April 1999, the Baath Government executed four Shi’a men for the al-Sadr slaying after a closed trial. Shi’a religious authorities and opposition groups objected to the trial process and contend that the four executed men were innocent. At least one of the four, Sheikh Abdul Hassan Abbas Kufi, a prayer leader in Najaf, reportedly was in prison at the time of the killing. The Shi’a press reported in January 1999 that he had been arrested on December 24, 1998. The three others executed with Kufi were Islamic scholar Ahmad Mustapha Hassan Ardabily, Ali Kathim Mahjan, and Haider Ali Hussain. The status of Ali al-Musawi, another Shi'a cleric accused of complicity in al-Sadr’s death, still is unknown. According to a report submitted to the Special Rapporteur in September 1999, one of al-Sadr’s sons, Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr, was arrested along with a large number of theological students who had studied under the Ayatollah. Nineteen followers of al-Sadr reportedly were executed toward the end of 1999, including Sheikh Muhammad al-Numani, Friday imam Sheikh Abd-al-Razzaq al-Rabi’i, assistant Friday imam Kazim al-Safi, and students from a religious seminary in Najaf.
Although a funeral for al-Sadr was prohibited, spontaneous gatherings of mourners took place in the days after his death. Government security forces used excessive force in breaking up these illegal religious gatherings. Throughout the country, security forces used automatic weapons and armored vehicles to break up demonstrations, killing, injuring, and arresting hundreds of protesters.
Authorities targeted suspected supporters of al-Sadr since he was killed in 1999. In February 2000, 30 Najaf religious school students, who were arrested after al-Sadr's death, reportedly were executed. In March 2000, scores of Shi’a who fled the country in 1999 and early 2000 told Human Rights Watch that they had been interrogated repeatedly and, in some cases, detained and tortured. Some were relatives of al-Sadr’s students who had been arrested after the killing and others were relatives of other prominent clerics. In May 2000, according to Human Rights Watch, at least six religious students in Najaf who were arrested after al-Sadr’s killing were sentenced to death, including Shaikh Salim Jassem al-Abbudi, Shaikh Nasser al-Saa’idi, and Sa’ad al-Nuri. Two clerics, Abdulsattar Abed-Ibrahim al-Mausawi and Ahmad al-Hashemi, reportedly were executed in May 2000 after 6 months' detention. The Baath Government accused them of attempting to discredit the President after they blamed Saddam Hussein for al-Sadr's killing. In late 1999 and early 2000, approximately 4,000 Shi’a families were expelled from Baghdad and sent to southern and western Iraq in reprisal for the disturbances that took place after al-Sadr’s death.
Authorities took forceful preemptive measures well ahead of the first anniversary of al-Sadr’s killing. Military units were deployed around shrines, mosques, and other religious institutions 2 months before the February anniversary. the Baath Government closed mosques except during prayer time, and the turnout on the holy day of Ashura in April 2001 consequently was many times lower than it had been in the past. In late May 2001, the Ba’ath party reportedly issued orders prohibiting the ritual walking pilgrimage from Najaf to Karbala, a procession marking the end of the 40-day mourning period for Imam Husayn. Travelers reported that security troops opened fire on pilgrims who attempted the pilgrimage.
In the aftermath of the al-Sadr killing and subsequent repression, the Shi’a religious community remained in a precarious state. Many scholars at the Shi’a religious schools in Najaf reportedly have been arrested, as have many of al-Sadr’s religious appointees throughout the country. These restrictions and abuses had an adverse affect on the development of a new set of Shi’a leaders.
The al-Sadr killing intensified Shi’a anger at the ruling Sunni minority and led to more severe government repression of the Shi’a. The Shi'a resistance also took the form of bolder actions against the regime, including hand grenade and rocket attacks on security headquarters, Ba’ath Party offices, and presidential residences in Baghdad, as well as small arms attacks in many parts of the capital. The al-Amin, Nuwab ad-Dubbat, and al-Nafth districts of Baghdad reportedly have remained in a heightened state of alert every Friday since al-Sadr’s death.
posted by Thaqalain | Saturday, May 15, 2004
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home