The Men who Shot Uday Sadam Hussain, 1996 Assasination attempt

S.O.A write in referred linked
SHATRA, IRAQ - As Salman Sharif gave the order to open fire, he was certain he was going to die himself. You did not try to assassinate Uday Hussein, the former Iraqi president's elder son and heir-apparent, at point blank range and expect to get away with it. "We knew we had a 1 percent chance of returning alive," Mr. Sharif says today, sitting crosslegged on a carpet-strewn floor as, for the first time, he recounts to a foreign newspaper the daring attack he led. "Strict security made this kind of operation almost impossible." But after months of careful planning, the four man hit squad drawn from a shadowy resistance group was determined to go ahead. As Uday Hussein drove his golden Porsche slowly up a busy street in one of Baghdad's smartest districts, just after dark on Dec. 12 1996, two gunmen responded to Sharif's command with a hail of bullets from their AK-47 rifles. "We were sure we had killed him," Sharif recalls. "We fired 50 rounds into that car." In fact, he discovered later, Uday had been hit 17 times but survived. He was crippled for the rest of his life, and - according to popular belief - rendered impotent (a special kind of justice, Sharif said, because of the elder Hussein son's reputation for brutal womanizing), but he lived. Still, the unprecedented assassination attempt on a member of the ruling Baath Party's inner circle sent an important message. "We showed that the Islamic resistance could reach any target at any time," Sharif says. "And we refuted before the whole world the regime's claim that there was no resistance inside Iraq." Mr. Sharif, who was 27 at the time he mounted the operation that sent shockwaves through the Iraqi leadership, looks an unlikely freedom fighter. Studious and methodical, peering intently through a large pair of spectacles, he resembled a provincial primary school teacher more than a guerrilla hit-man. But Sharif's tale offers a rare window into how the Iraqi resistance movement operated during Hussein's reign. as a religious Shiite Muslim he hated the government which repressed his coreligionists so fiercely and assented readily when a student friend in his scruffy home town of Shatra, in Southern Iraq, recruited him into an armed resistance group. For two years he kept up his studies at a technical college and spent his spare time organizing clandestine cells. Then, when a Shiite revolt broke out in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War, he and his comrades joined the fighting, seizing their hometown and holding off Iraqi troops for three weeks. Eventually they were overwhelmed and Sharif was arrested in a mass sweep of detentions. But he was released after 18 days for lack of evidence, he says, and fled to the safety of the marshes near Basra, where some of his fellow resistance fighters had formed the "15 Shaaban" movement, named for the day in the Muslim calendar that the Shiite uprising had begun. Constantly harassed by Iraqi Army assaults, moving by canoe through the thick reeds from one hut to another, Sharif lived in what he calls "sub-human conditions" for the next five years, running one of his movement's secret base camps built of dry reeds. "It was very tough in the marshes," he remembers. "Most opposition groups fled abroad, but we wanted to feel what the people felt, to be close to their suffering." Then, in 1996, the 15 Shaaban movement upped the ante. Instead of trying to kill only regional Baath party leaders and local officials in occasional sorties from their hidden camps, the group decided to aim at the heart of the regime, targeting its highest leaders. The idea, explains Hussein Hamza, leader of the former resistance movement that has transformed itself into an Islamic political party, was "to weaken the regime, to undermine its foundations and to create a state of chaos. And we wanted to encourage people to rise up against the government." Sharif was tapped for a key role. Mr. Hamza asked him to take control of the group's Baghdad cells, and he moved to the capital in mid-1996 to take over operations there. It was not long, Sharif says, before he heard of Uday's regular Thursday night trawls for pretty girls in Mansour, an upscale part of town where he was notorious for forcing young women to accompany him back to one of his palaces. The news intrigued him. "It seemed like a golden opportunity," he says, so for the next two months Sharif strolled the crowded streets of Mansour each Thursday evening, the night before the Muslim weekend, to see what he could see. Sure enough, every Thursday round about seven, Uday would curb crawl along Mansour's main drag, sometimes with bodyguards in a motorcade, sometimes not. Keeping his eyes open and making friends with some of the neighborhood shopkeepers, Sharif figured out which of the street peddlers were regime informers, which traffic policemen were really secret-police officers, which buildings housed government offices, and which of the regular passers-by wandering up and down the sidewalk were actually security men. "I didn't tell anyone about my plan until I was 100 percent sure it was possible," he says. "I had to be absolutely right about all the details so as to be credible in the eyes of my leaders." Eventually he was sure enough to travel south, slip into the marshes, and present his findings to the movement's leadership. They were convinced. He had the go-ahead. The next steps, he says, were to select the three men who would make up the hit-squad under his leadership ("they had to be especially competent"), rent a safe-house in Baghdad, buy a getaway car, and smuggle guns and grenades up from the marshes into the capital for the assassination attempt. Persuading his recruits to take part in the operation was not hard, according to Sharif, despite the fact that they knew it was suicidal. "Everybody in Iraq hated Uday," he says. "The team members were very happy: they said they felt lucky to have been chosen for such an operation." One, known by his code name Abu Zahrar, would drive the getaway car. Sharif, who went by the name Abu Ahmed, would cover the gunmen. Abu Sadeq and Abu Sajad would do the actual shooting. A member of another cell rented an apartment in one of Baghdad's Shiite neighborhoods, another bought a car, and men from the marshes came up with the weapons. "We know our country well," says Mr. Hamza. "We knew which dirt roads led around the checkpoints on the highway." On the appointed day, seven o'clock found the hit-men eating ice cream on the sidewalk outside one of Mansour's best known ice-cream parlors, keeping their eyes skinned for their target. Half an hour passed. Another half hour. No Uday. After waiting a little longer, the adrenaline draining from their veins, the would-be assassins went home. The following Thursday, the same thing happened. And the next Thursday. And the next. Sharif began to suspect that his plan had been uncovered, but nobody came to arrest them. Perhaps, he concluded, Uday was busy in his capacity as Iraq's sports czar with an international soccer competition in which the Iraqi team was competing. After five weeks of waiting impatiently at his marshy headquarters for news, Hamza sent an envoy to Baghdad with a coded message calling off the operation. Such a long delay carried with it the risk of exposure. Sharif begged for one more chance. His request was granted. And so were his wishes. Just after 7 p.m. on the following Thursday, Sharif spotted "a very unusual car" that could only belong to the flamboyant Uday, cruising towards him under the streetlamps. He had no apparent escort vehicles. "He had so many security people on the streets, I think he felt safe," Sharif suggests. Abu Sadeq leaned into the team's car and pulled out the sports bag in which he had concealed two AK-47s, two spare magazines, and six grenades. Abu Zahrar jumped into the car and drove it a few yards into the shadows. Sharif, armed with a hidden pistol, accompanied the two shooters to the spot he had chosen. As Uday drove by slowly they were shocked to realize he was alone: his bodyguard must have got out to search for women up the street. Abu Sadeq and Abu Sajad pulled their weapons from the bag and opened up from just a few yards away. The windshield and passenger window shattered. Uday slumped to his right. The gunmen emptied their magazines, dropped their weapons, and ran for their getaway car. Sharif followed. The three men leaped in, roared off, and disappeared. The whole incident had taken less than a minute. Nobody had shot back at them. Nobody followed them. Elated, they reached their safe house, where they slept the night. The next morning they took the bus to Nasariyah, and a connecting bus to Suq-ash-Shuyukh, on the edge of the marshes. By nightfall they were back in the safety of their base. Sharif did not leave the marshes until the US-led invasion last March. "We never imagined it would be so easy," Sharif says with a smile. "We thought we had been sent to our deaths." In the marshes over the next few days, Hamza, the leader of 15 Shaaban, listened to Voice of America radio and other international stations and chuckled as Iraq pundits speculated about an attempted coup. "Lots of other parties claimed the attack, but we didn't," he recalls. "We wanted the regime to think it came from its own ranks." Eventually, however, Saddam found out the truth. A member of 15 Shaaban who knew about the plot was arrested in Jordan in connection with another affair and handed over to the Iraqi secret police, Hamza says. Under torture, he broke. By August 1998, 18 months after the assassination attempt, Saddam's security men had arrested Abu Sajad and published details of the other members of the team. The government's revenge was vicious. Sharif's seven brothers and his father were rounded up: his mother was told later to collect their bodies from the Baghdad morgue. Abu Sadeq's father and three of his brothers were executed. Abu Sajad and his father suffered the same fate. Security men bulldozed all of the families' houses and confiscated all their property. Last December, an Iraqi hit-squad tracked down Abu Sadeq, in exile in Iran, and killed him. Hamza's wife was arrested: she gave birth to a son in jail, and it was six years before the two were released to house arrest. None of the families evicted from their houses have been given new homes, none have yet been offered any compensation by the new authorities, Sharif says bitterly. Still, he insists, the operation was worth the price his comrades and their families paid. "When you weigh up the pros and cons, the advantages are bigger," he argues. "It is not easy for a man to sacrifice his family: nobody would do it unless it was for a noble cause. But I think my family was ready for that sacrifice. I inherited my sense of sacrifice from them. It was the way I was brought up." Hamza agrees. "The sacrifices we made and the blood our members spilled made people demand the end of the regime," he says. "Maybe it will be because of those sacrifices that in future people will demand that our Governing Council stays on the right path. It's because we made sacrifices that we can demand elections." Hamza adds that he is bitter about what he says is an over-representation of former exiles on the Governing Council. Sharif says he was satisfied when he heard the news that US troops had killed Uday, along with his younger brother Qusay, in a July 22 shootout in Mosul. "Anyone would prefer to finish a job if it is the right job to do," he reflects. "I wish it had been me who had done it. But no matter who killed him, such a vicious man did not deserve to live."

Sistani's Breakthrough in Najaf

AL-Sistani to save Al-Sadr and Dr Allawi!!!

Al-Sistani and Al-Sadr call for march on Najaf!
Author: Adnan Date: 25-08-04 10:47
Ayatollah Ali-Al-Sistanis has already arrived in Basra. He will lead a march on Najaf tomorrow, Thursday 26.08.04. In the meantime a call came from Al-Sadr supporteds to march on Najaf too. This will definitely pull the rug from under the feet of Allawi's government. According to the tough statements coming from the defence minister, Al-Shaalan, Iraqi forces will clear up the Imam Ali Shrine. This will also confuse Negroponte, as huge crowds in Najaf will show that in the absence of US forces Iraqis can manage their own affairs. Allawi and his CIA mentors may be planning to sabotage such march and blame it on Al-Zarqawi. In order to avoid huge losses the Americans must order their troops out of Iraqi cities.
Author: Adnan Date: 26-08-04 13:32
According to peolpe close to the interim government, there was a real fight between the tough-talking Mr Al-Sahala'an, the Defence Minister, helped by the Governor of Najaf, Mr Adnan Al-Zurfi and Dr Allawi and his national security chief, Dr Muwafaq Al-Rubaie. The defence minister warned Allawi that he will send his tribe to invade Najaf and to crush Al-Mehdi. Allawi cabled Tony Blair asking for help to facilitate the return of Al-Sistani to Iraq. In this regard it seems that Al-Sistani will be used to help Al-Sadr while his Mehdi army is being decimated and Dr Allawi who is being challenged by his defence minister. Ambassador Mr Negroponte has already indicated that Mr Al-Shalaan should replace Dr Allawi.Furthermore, Dr Al-Rabiee, the security chief has been injured in the scuffle and is recovering in hospital.Sourec: Iraq4all.dk/Arabic.

Juancole writes: (http://www.juancole.com/)

Al-Hayat reports that while he was in London, a delegation of Iranians came to see Sistani and to request that he support a bigger role for Iran in Iraq. He is said to have rejected this overture vehemently, and to have decided in the aftermath to return to Iraq without coordinating that step with the British, American or Iraqi governments. [This claim of non-coordination is coming from Sistani circles in London and is not plausible-- the British had to be in this up to their eyeballs.]
Adnan writes in the following link:
http://www.albawabaforums.com/read.php3?f=3&i=76072&t=76072

In one-line Fatwa (Edict), we can end the occupation, Ayatollah Al-Mudarrasi. Ayatollah Hadi Al-Mudarrasi, the Head of Religious Scholars in Iraq has recently stated (Kerbalanews.com) that "there are no major differences between all religious factions concerning the present abnormal situation in Iraq." He described Saddam regime as "a pyramid that was standing on its tip. The minute Saddam was removed the Pyramid collapsed." He continued to say that "the religious authorities have patience and will move in due course." Referring to 1920 one-line fatwa Fatwa by Muhamad Taqi Al-Shirazi that ended the British occupation of Iraq, Ayatollah Hadi Al-Mudarrasi said Yesterday in Kerbala that "a fatwa will be issued when all consequences are taken into consideration". As to the interim government intention to establish diplomatic ties with Israel, Al-Mudarresi said " The government can't do that as we are Arabs and Muslims and sympathise with our Plestinian brothers and sisters".

Rafsanjani encourages White House politicians to think deeply Tehran, Aug 27, IRNA -- Interim Tehran Friday Prayer leader Hojatoleslam Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani encouraged the "occupiers of Iraq and White House politicians" to think deeply and "take lessons from Najaf incidents." Addressing thousands of worshipers at Tehran University's centralcampus, the head of Iran's Expediency council added, "The main point is that an occupier country fights for 3 weeks quite resolutely against a group of defenseless, but selfless Muslims who merely reliedon their strong will, killing many, and destroying greatly, without achieving any tangible results." Rafsanjani added, "The Americans need to hesitate a bit and contemplate on the point why they could not defeat the people who absolutely relied on no power's support." He considered the armed struggle of the "Mujahids" and combatants against the aggressor occupier forces, and the massive welcome of the Iraq nation to Ayatollah Sistani's call for peaceful march toward Najaf, "two popular moves", arguing, "Both the armed struggle and the peaceful and kindhearted political move of a cleric well acquainted with the people's problems are democratic and popular moves." The former Iranian president stressed, "The US forces, relying ontheir most advanced military equipment, failed to intimidate the resistance fighters in Najaf, since if they had managed to do so, the fight would have halted a lot earlier, but we all know that did not happen." Evaluating the beginning of the Najaf crisis as "quite amazing", Rafsanjani assured all, "It goes without saying that the initial stages of Najaf incidence were based on a comprehensive, premeditated planning and the occupiers were fully ready for suppressing the resistance forces, and that was not restricted to Najaf, either." He emphasized, "The occupier Americans wished to harness all theiropponents through intimidation and threat, and sent that message by launching a wild massacre of the Iraqi nation in Najaf and other Iraqicities, but they gained the opposite feedback." The interim Friday prayer leader said, "The return of a 73-year-old source of jurisprudence after a sensitive heart surgery toa crisis stricken country, without any body guards and going the distance from border to Najaf along with the people, was truly a political maneuver that the Whit House advisors need to study deeply." Rafsanjani compared that move with the late Imam's departure from Paris, on his own free will, and his arrival in Tehran, despite the ousted Shah's fiddle supporters' will, which "broke the backbone of the former Iranian regime." He said, "The Americans have still not thoroughly understood the realities within the Islamic world and I expect the White House to consider my remarks as a warning, heed the sheer and prevailing realities, and stop creating so much trouble for the nations around the globe." Rafsanjani quoted "some US dailies and magazine" as evaluating theNajaf attack "the most stupid move made by the White House in contemporary history." He reiterated, "Mr. Bush has personally admitted to making mistakes in Iraq, particularly in evaluating the general situation there." Rafsanjani emphasized, "What kind of a global management are you putting on display? The power that claims to be the top manager of thewhole world makes such a big mistake, and creates such a big mess in Najaf, the sum up of whose conduct is merely massacring the Muslims and destroying some of the holiest Islamic cities." Referring to an electronic billboard recently erected in New York's Central Square which displays the expenses of Iraq war to the moment, Rafsanjani said, "Up to Wednesday, August 25th, the Iraq war had cost $134.5 billion, and each day some $177 million is added to that amount, if there are not unexpected incidents, and yet, the United States has achieved no tangible result in Iraq." He further elaborated, "The Americans spend an average $122,820 per minute just to keep killing the Iraqi civilians and create more crimes." The former Iranian president said, "I want to send a message to the Americans from this tribune and that is hesitate for a second to evaluate the conduct of the other side, and then experience a humanitarian solution to the existing problem." Rafsanjani added, "Had you spent a quarter of this huge amount forpaying back a part of your debts to those Third World nations whom youhave exploited their resources as a colonialist power, in the form of scientific, food stuff, and technical assistance, you would have harvested much greater outcomes." He emphasized, "The only result of the policy you are perusing presently would be inflicting heavier human and material losses, since keeping in mind the rising oil prices at international markets, you need to compare your expenses to what you gain." Rafsanjani said, "You not only did not secure your grandeur at international level, but were severely belittled, and Najaf today is the symbol of resistance in contemporary history, above Stalingrad that formerly held that status." The head of the Expediency Council emphasized, "You (Americans) are leading a war against the mosques around the globe, and against Islam's path and Islamic piety and this war would yield no benefits for you." Rafsanjani reiterated, "Of course, we can see signs of coming to sense in some US officials' conduct, and even in nuclear issue, where they unfairly accused us of having military intentions, they are recently showing a certain amount of rationalism, but this, too, couldbe a new deceit." The head of the Expediency Council said, "Meanwhile, we invite youto observe rationalism, and we believe if you really wish to push forth reforms, you can rely on rationalism, cooperation, and collaboration, gain the assistance of a large number of people." Rafsanjani added, "Yet, if your only objective is securing your hegemony, and assuring the US monopoly, aimed at looting the resources of the world nations, I assure you that neither resorting toforce, nor resorting to politics and deceit, you cannot achieve that objective." The head of the Expediency Council meanwhile expressed hope that President Mohammad Khatami's cabinet would succeed in remaining one year of his tenure success in solving the people's acute problems, such as unemployment and inflation, and putting back on trail the important projects whose process of execution have been halted, so that his government would succeed in presenting a worthy record to theesteemed nation.

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2004/08/full-translation-by-angry-arab-of.html
Full translation by Angry Arab of the Sistani accord:
"1. Removal of weapons from the cities of Najaf and Kufa, and the withdrawal of all armed elements from the two cities, and their categorical non-return.2. That Iraqi police assumes the responsibility for security and law preservation in Najaf and Kufa.3. The withdrawal of the multinational forces from the cities.4. That the Iraqi government pays reparations to those harmed in the recent battles.5. It is incumbent upon all political, social, intellectual parties and sides to be part of the political process which will lead to general elections, arriving toward full sovereignty."
There are Arab press reports regarding secret elements, pertaining to the release of prisoners on both sides. There is no question after reading this that As-Sadr got what he wanted, and the Iraqi puppet government demands were not met. After all, a similar offer of these terms were submitted last week by As-Sadr and were rejected by `Allawi. On the most important issues, As-Sadr did not compromise: he did not surrender his weapons, and Arab media are widely reporting that most weapons were placed in special hiding places. He refused to commit to join the political process leading to the puppet elections. And finally, he refused to recognize the Iraqi puppet government. As-Sistani (as my friend Amir was commenting) had to return to Iraq and offer this deal, to save his own "neck." Had Sistani returned to a destroyed Najaf with US (or Iraqi puppet) forces inside the Imam `Ali mosque, he most likely would have been met with rotten tomatoes (or potatoes). This deal saves Sistani and Sadr's political fortunes. It was also surprising to see former Iranian president Rafsanjani heaping praise on Sistani yesterday. This, again, proves that Sistani seems to be playing a very sneaky game.

Sadr City Sings Its Praises of Cleric

Sadr City Sings Its Praises of Cleric
Sun Aug 22, 7:55 AM ET
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By Alissa J. Rubin Times Staff Writer
BAGHDAD — The singing could be heard from more than a block away as the pickup truck careened along the unpaved streets of District 10 deep in the heart of Sadr City.

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Crammed into the flatbed, 25 mostly young men hoisted their semiautomatic weapons, a few of them carrying rocket-propelled-grenade launchers.
Despite a five-day onslaught by U.S. troops intent on clearing the poor Baghdad neighborhood of supporters of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr, late Saturday they were still visible, they were still armed, and they were singing. "The Shiites will be victorious," they sang, smiling broadly with a campfire look of good cheer.
Residents waved at the men, pointing and saying, "Mahdi army" — referring to the militia loyal to Sadr, whose supporters are occupying the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, south of the capital.
Even as the takeover of the shrine has dwarfed all other news from Iraq (news - web sites), the U.S. military has launched what it calls one of its largest urban initiatives yet in the neighborhood where Sadr has his biggest base of support. Scores of Iraqis reportedly have been killed in the sweep.
The military estimated Friday that in the preceding 24 hours, 50 Al Mahdi fighters had been killed, but that number appeared high given the relative scarcity of the black banners usually posted to notify the neighborhood of a death.
And the jubilant singing of the young men told a story of continuing defiance.
Sadr City appeared more supportive of Sadr on Saturday than it did before the U.S. sweep and the Najaf standoff. Because much of the cleric's appeal to poor Shiites has been his willingness to stand up to the Americans, the U.S. operations here and in Najaf have only served to rally support for him. That is all the more true in Sadr City, where the Americans appeared to have received little or no help from Iraqi security forces or police.
"What he's doing in Najaf makes us stronger," said Khalid Jassim, a 39-year-old tailor who was talking with friends at a car repair shop as the sun set. "Everybody now is part of the Mahdi army."
That is far from true, but in Sadr City, with a population of about 2 million, widespread anti-American sentiment has hardened in recent days. On the walls of the houses, even the graffiti are committed to protest. "Yes, yes … to the IED that terrified Americans," reads one message, referring to what is known as an improvised explosive device. Another says, "Peace upon the IED." Some children carry toy rocket-propelled grenades, pretending to be Sadr's insurgents.
In the sprawling neighborhood, the stench of open sewers is pervasive; water merely trickles out of many taps, making it difficult to wash, and that water can cause typhoid and intestinal diseases. Electricity is off much of the time.
Only a small percentage of Sadr City residents belong to Sadr's militia, but there appeared to be wide community support for the fighters' activities even among people who are not followers of the cleric. The slum is named after the cleric's father, who was assassinated under the Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) regime.
"When people buy food, they buy a bag for their families and a bag for the Mahdi," said Mohammed Sugheir, 35, who was at the car repair shop with Jassim.
Taha Saddoun, 37, who has a small storefront where he repairs refrigerators, described himself as a supporter of the moderate Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, but he said he also admired Sadr's fighters. "The Mahdi guys are really brave men," he said.
What happens next in Sadr City, Saddoun said, will depend on Najaf. "If there is fighting in Najaf, things will escalate again here," he said. "The Americans are trying to scare off the Mahdi army, but this is the Shiite resistance, and it is all over Iraq now."
Residents say Sadr is not about to go into politics, as sought by Iraqi officials who are trying to negotiate a peace deal with him. "He will not enter politics until the occupation has ended," said Jassim, the tailor, his tone confident.
As for a political program, Sugheir, like several Sadr City residents, noted only one tenet: "He wants the American troops to leave."

Saddoun said he believed that the Americans were so antagonistic toward Sadr's militant stance that they were willing to punish all of Sadr City to ensure the cleric was defeated. "The Americans don't want the Sadr [approach] to be effective. The evidence is all around you — look," Saddoun said. He pointed to the bare lightbulb in his shop, which was dark because there was no electricity, and gestured to the curb, where rotting food and debris lay heaped.
Underpinning this view, a number of Sadr City residents said, is the harsh reality that Americans have accomplished little to improve the living conditions despite repeated promises by U.S. officials of jobs and reconstruction.
From the American standpoint, the lack of security in Sadr City has made it all but impossible to do any major projects. "We've told them, we'll come and rebuild if their guys will stop shooting at us," a U.S. diplomat said in Baghdad.
For most residents, the reality is the unfulfilled promises.
"Electricity, sewers, road works — these are what the people need — and foodstuffs. Even if the Americans provided these things, we would be happy," taxi driver Saleh Haider Ajeel said from his bed at Ibn Nafees Hospital on the edge of Sadr City.
Ajeel was shot Wednesday morning. He said U.S. troops had fired on him as he was walking to his garage to start the day's driving. Because the bullet entered under his arm and exited through his chest, it was impossible to determine whether the bullet had come from the Americans.
Still, the phenomenon of Iraqis being shot simply because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time has been a recurring problem for the Americans. Each time such incidents happen, it deepens the anger and skepticism among Iraqis about the Americans' reasons for being in the country.
In the same hospital as Ajeel was a mentally disabled man who had been walking with his father and a push-cart operator, both of whom had been seeking work. As the cart operator moved from shop to shop, he said, the Americans opened fire. He said he crouched down and tried to run to safety but was hit. The other man was in the hospital with a shrapnel wound.
In theory, both men could have been Al Mahdi fighters, but their stories and their politics suggested otherwise. Both said they supported neither Sadr nor the Americans.
A major issue that the Iraqi interim government and the Americans have yet to grapple with is that even if Sadr was defeated, his followers would remain, most of them angry, poor and with little sense of hope.
"Look at all of us," Sugheir said, gesturing to the 12 men at the car repair shop. "Every one of us is unemployed, and every one of us has a family to care for."

New recruits to the Mehdi Army

From London to Iraq: New recruits to the Mehdi army
11 August 2004 08:30

The two young men sitting cross-legged in a small room off the courtyard of the Imam Ali shrine looked like any of the fighters around them.Their beards were short and neat, their feet bare and their dress the simple dishdasha, the Arab robe. They were deferential to their militia commander and spoke idealistically of defeating the military might of the United States in Iraq's holy city of Najaf.But both were from London, the first Britons known to have joined the Mehdi army, one of the most prominent fighting groups in the Islamic insurgency that has gripped Iraq in the year since the invasion.Though the two men were born in Iraq -- one in Najaf, the other in Baghdad -- their families took them to England as children. They went to school and college in the capital, picked up strong London accents and British passports and finally returned to the country of their birth for the first time on Monday.Their sole aim: to fight a "jihad" with a ragtag Shia militia loyal to the young cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The Mahdi army and its allies have staged violent uprisings across south ern Iraq and are now battling the US and British armies and the Baghdad government.Neither would give his name, but the elder, a confident 23-year-old, used the nomme de guerre Abu Haqid (father of fury). He said he had studied English and worked in a supermarket. The younger, quieter man -- his 21-year-old nephew --called himself Abu Turab (father of dust, the connotation of death). He had been studying to be a computer teacher.The pair had travelled secretly into Iraq in the past few days, via a "not legit" route, according to Abu Haqid.They had talked to others in London about coming out to fight. "Some said they would wait and see what happens to us," he said. "We told them 'our brothers are fighting down there, they are not eating well, they are not sleeping well, we have to be in the same place as them, the same position as them'."They had the support of their families, Abu Haqid added: "It is our religion and our families can't stop this thing. We all have a belief, me and my family, when it comes to jihad. We asked our families and they said yes. It is good to protect your country and be there with your brothers."For the first two days the pair were to be trained to use the Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles that most carry, as well as BKC machine guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades."They are training us how to use the weapons and how to move quickly when we move," said Abu Turab. "We are going to complete our training and soon we will start fighting."On their first night they were handed a BKC machine gun and sent out into the Valley of Peace, the vast, ancient graveyard to the north of the old city of Najaf that has become the frontline of the latest six-day uprising."They taught us how to use the gun -- it's simple at the end of the day. I didn't see any Americans. They were very far away," said Abu Haqid. "It was good fun actually. It was dangerous but we have our belief."Al-Sadr's militiamen are mainly fighting from the alleyways of the old city, using old weapons and no body armour. They face a force of thousands of US marines, backed up by tanks, armoured personnel carriers and attack helicopters.Asked where they slept at night, Abu Haqid said: "We believe Najaf is a holy city, so wherever you are in it you will just chill out and sleep.""There is no salary," said Abu Turab. "The food is simple, no barbecues or anything. Just a simple sandwich of bread and nothing else. But we believe that if you see your brothers ... and someone is killing them and it is not fair then you have to stand with them and support them, in Palestine or any place."The pair said they wanted to come to Iraq to fight as soon as the US invaded last year. "They were wrong to come to our country. They said they came for chemical weapons and they didn't get permission from the UN, so they attacked Iraq for no reason," said Abu Turab."It's pride, my friend. It is pride," said the other. "If someone wants to step on your head I don't know if it would be accepted in Europe or England."They planned their trip for months and when Al-Sadr emerged as a powerful leader after organising a series of uprisings in April, they decided to volunteer to join his force. "Bush said 'you are either with us or against us'," Abu Haqid added. "We had to decide either to be with him or against him, and we are against him definitely."Both were at pains to point out their disapproval of Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda network and insisted their presence in Al-Sadr's militia did not amount to terrorism, because they were fighting against uniformed soldiers."Bin Laden and his group are totally against our belief, killing innocent civilians," said Abu Haqid. "Killing innocent people we cannot do. That is terrorism, this is defending your country." - Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

Sistani: Najaf Battle & London Deaprture

US to disrupt Iraqi anti-occupation coalition
Author: Adnan Date: 07-08-04 18:36
http://www.albawabaforums.com/read.php3?f=3&i=74024&t=74024
The resumption of fighting in Najaf was an attempt by the US and its puppet government of Dr Allawi to disrupt the coalition of 16 anti-occupation coalition factions. Mr Muqtada Al-Sadr has been secretly negotiating with other armed factions to pool resources, to share intelligence and to coordinate attacks. The Americans have learned of such plans, sent a message to Al-Sistani to stay out of Najaf, ordered the governor of Najaf, Adnan Al-Zufi, a known CIA agent, to start a pre-emptive attack on Al-Sadr followers in Najaf violating the the truce signed in June 2004. US troops, accompanied by hundreds of mercenaries and Besh Merga fighters have started to occupy position and to arrest Al-Sadr fighters. Many Iraqis with inside information believe that the coming days will witness intensifcation of fighting throughout Iraq and many surprises are to be announced soon.


Al-Sistani vs. Al-Sadr
Author: Adnan Date: 08-08-04 10:02
Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani vs. Hojat Il Islam Moqtada Al-Sadr Like the Catholics, the Shiites have the Ayatollah as their pope. In 1992, Al-Sistani was elected to become the highest authority. Ayatollah Ali-Al Sistani is one of four high Shiite authorities in Najaf. Born in Iran in 1930 and left for Iraq in 1951. Contrary to Iran's Ayatollah Al-Khomeini, Al-Sistani believes in the separation of the mosque from politics. Despite his moderate views and scholarly manners, Saddam put him in prison or under house arrest. To the contrary of Al-Sistani, Moqtada Al-Sadr, like his father Mohamad Baqir Al-Sadr, was born in Iraq and the family played a major role in the 1920 popular uprising against the British rule. Al-Sadr has also played a major role in the 1992 uprising against Saddam. His father and aunt were assassinated by Saddam. Following the collapse of Saddam’s regime, armed Al-Sadr followers surrounded the house of Al-Sistani asking him to take a clear position regarding the new realities in Iraq. Al-Sistani refused to be drawn and left his home into hiding. Moqtada Al-Sadr and his armed supporters had doubts about the real intentions behind the US-UK invasion of Iraq. Their suspicions were confirmed when the Americans spelled out their intention to remain in Iraq as long as they did in Germany or Japan and are to implement an Israeli plan for the Middle East. The Americans knew that the Shiites majority will reject their long term-plans for Iraq. The American tactic was to contain the Iraqi resistance in the Sunni triangle first, before moving on liquidating Moqtada Al-Sadr and his followers. But Al-Sadr denied them such a pleasure and went to coordinate efforts with all anti-occupation forces inside and outside Iraq. Al-Sistani knew of the American plans to liquidate Al-Sadr and wanted to be far away from Najaf. The recent secret visit of an Iranian delegation to Najaf offering assistance to Al-Sistani was the last straw to make him decide on leaving Iraq, not to Tehran or to the Arab Gulf for treatment, but to London. Right now (08.08.04) Al-Sistani lives in a flat in London Mayfair district and is treated at Cromwell Road Hospital. Currently, efforts are being exerted to form an Iraqi Liberation Front (ILF) with its relevant political wing and a ‘shadow’ government.


Who’s to replace Al-Sistani?
Author: Adnan Date: 10-08-04 12:42
Who’s to replace Al-Sistani? The highest religious authority in Shiite Iraq is made up of four highly competent scholars; Ayatollah Al-Sistani, Born in Meshad, Iran, Ayatollah Bashir, born in Afghanistan, Ayatollah Faiadh, Born in Pakistan and Ayatollah M.S. Al-Hakim born in Isfahan, Iran. By coincidence or by design, all these are currently (10.08.04) outside Iraq while the Americans are moving on Najaf to clear Al-Sadr and his fighters. It seems that none of these Ayatollahs is in a position to see the bones of their fathers and great fathers being scattered and pulverised by American Helicopters firing cluster bombs and fighting from tomb to tomb in the age-old cemetery. During an election year, the Americans are getting desperate and pay no attention to the sanctity of Imam Ali’s Shrine or to the millions of tombs of Shiites from all the over the world. Furthermore, the Americans are trying to appoint an Iraqi born Ayatollah and have already approached Ayatollah Al-Madrasi, from Kerbala, who had received $$$ from Dr Allawi’s government to deny Al-Sadr a foothold in his city. The above plan was approved by Colin Powell during his talks with Dr Allawi and the Saudi government in Riyadh. Right now, the situation is too explosive as the US and its CIA agent, Dr. Allawi, have crossed all redlines. The Shiites will emulate the sacrifices of Imam Hussein in fighting the USraeli occupiers, from street to street and from trench to trench. The historically oppressed Shiite majority is being awoken by USraeli atrocities. The attack on Najaf may be the straw to break the back of Usraeli occupation of Iraq.

(Saturday, August 07, 2004
Clashes and Churches...)
http://www.riverbendblog.blogspot.com
Sistani has conveniently been flown to London. His ‘illness’ couldn’t come at a better moment if Powell et al. had personally selected it. While everyone has been waiting for him to denounce the bombing and killing of fellow-Shi’a in Najaf and elsewhere, he has come down with some bug or other and had to be shipped off to London for check-ups. That way, he can remain silent about the situation. Shi’a everywhere are disappointed at this silence. They are waiting for some sort of a fatwa or denouncement- it will not come while Sistani is being coddled by English nurses.One of the news channels showed him hobbling off of a private airplane, surrounded by his usual flock of groupies and supporters. I couldn’t quite tell, but I could have sworn Bahr Ul Iloom was with him. E. said that one of the groupies was actually Chalabi but it was difficult to tell because the cameraman was, apparently, standing quite far away.The thought that Sistani is seriously ill does make everyone somewhat uneasy. Should he decide to die on us now, it will probably mean a power struggle between the Shi'a clerics in the south. Juan Cole has a lot more about it.Last week churches were bombed- everyone heard about that. We were all horrified with it. For decades- no centuries- churches and mosques have stood side by side in Iraq. We celebrate Christmas and Easter with our Christian friends and they celebrate our Eids with us. We never categorized eachother as "Christian" and "Muslim"... It never really mattered. We were neighbors and friends and we respected eachother's religious customs and holidays. We have many differing beliefs- some of them fundamental- but it never mattered.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/ writes :
Sistani in London: Some of you have sent me the analysis by Juan Cole of Sistani's London trip. While I respect Juan's knowledge on Shi`ite matters (although I do not necessarily always agree with his political interpretations--but than again I do not agree with anybody, and barely with myself sometimes) this particular post is based on an article in Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat (cited by Juan). But dispatches from or on Iraq in Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat or in Al-Hayat always carry the interests and perspectives of US occupiers. Both newspapers are Saudi-owned and financed, and Saudi Arabia (especially as of late) is trying so hard to please the US administration. Their obsolete initiative for a Muslim/Arab force in Iraq (there were no takers) was just one example of Saudi desperate attempt to please US government. Al-Hayat also carried a story today on Sistani's visit in which it wanted to send a message of Sistani's strong opposition to As-Sadr, which is not untrue. But both Al-Hayat and Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat gloss over Sistani's rejection of US occupation, and his adamant refusal to meet with any American envoy or messenger. The criticisms of the Americans by two former members of the Iraqi puppet government council (Salamah Al-Khaffaji and Muwaffaq Ar-Rubay`i--both were very close to occupation authority) yesterday reveal a rising displeasure of the Americans among "moderate" Shi`ite ranks, and perhaps a rise in As-Sadr's popularity. The New York Times has an article today about the police role that As-Sadr's militia has been playing after month of earning a reputation for thuggery. Even As-Sadr complained publicity a few weeks ago that his own men have "filled my heart with pus"--not a lovely image or expression but refers in Arabic usage to a case of deep pain. But remember that US-commissioned polls in Iraq reveal that As-Sadr's popularity is quite significant, and he cannot be simply dismissed as an insignificant voice in Iraq. If Sistani has left An-Najaf to allow the Americans to take over the city (as both Al-Hayat and Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat have implied) his leadership would for all intents and purposes be severely shattered or undermined. Al-Hayat today states that Hizbullah boycotted the visit of Sistani to Beirut (he passed through the airport and stayed for no more than 3 hours) due to deep ideological differences while I found that Hasan Nasrallah was very respectful of Sistani and defended him against his Shi`ite and non-Shi`ite critics in the Arab world when I interviewed him in June. Certainly Sistani's exit is significant especially when you remember that the man has not left his house in 6 years, but it may make things more difficult--not more easier--for the occupiers. And Ishaq Fayyad, perhaps the 2nd most influential Grand Ayatollah in Najaf, is less politically passive than Sistani. The New York Times today on its first page carried a headline that "Najaf cemetery cleared." What a victory? What a resounding victory against...the Najaf cemetery. Hail the chief and salute the troops, NOW.

Outlaw Militia Plays Role Of Ad Hoc Police Force

SECURITY
Outlaw Militia Plays Role Of Ad Hoc Police Force
By SOMINI SENGUPTAPublished: August 8, 2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 2 - The Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, is one of the biggest thorns for Americans in Iraq, periodically erupting in violent challenges to the American-backed interim government. But even when truces are declared, the militia is at hard at work on the streets of Sadr City, a slum neighborhood here in the capital.
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At midnight recently, as the stench of rotting chicken parts rose from market stalls, members of the Mahdi Army reported to work.
Dressed in black shirts, their faces hidden behind ski masks, they stood as sentries at the gates of their neighborhood. They held guns and flashlights. The glowing orange tips of their cigarettes were like fireflies in a neighborhood plunged into darkness by a power cut.
No car passed without inspection at their checkpoint. They opened trunks. They ordered drivers to step out.
In one car, they found cans of beer, which they poured into the gutter before letting the driver go. Out of the blackness came the sound of each can being opened and emptied, and then being crushed underfoot. An Iraqi police truck stopped; there was a consultation with the militiamen, and the truck moved on. The black-shirted men drove off into the night to take their posts across Sadr City.
The Mahdi Army has emerged in recent months as a powerful paramilitary force that has not only taken charge of policing Shiite enclaves like this one but has also been aiding Iraqi security forces in crackdowns against looters and kidnappers, according to Mahdi Army members and civilians in other parts of Baghdad.
Officially, the militia is an outlaw group. An arrest warrant was issued for Mr. Sadr in April by an Iraqi court in connection with the killing of a rival Shiite cleric.
A spokesman for the Interior Ministry, which controls police and security forces, said there was no official cooperation with the Mahdi Army but acknowledged that its members sometimes worked with local law enforcement groups on security.
"In various parts of the country, they have been helpful," Sabah Khadim, the ministry spokesman, said in an interview. "When we have sufficient security forces, this government will have Iraq under control. There will be no other militias."
The apparent cooperation between the Mahdi Army and the state security forces signals the inability of the Iraqi government to control Mr. Sadr's militia, leaving it trying to make deals with the group.
Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has allowed Mr. Sadr to resume the publication of his newspaper, which Americans closed this spring, prompting clashes in the south. The government has not pressed the arrest warrant for Mr. Sadr.
It has also dangled an offer of an amnesty for some of his fighters and repeatedly invited Mr. Sadr to take part in a national conference to plan Iraq's political future. Mr. Sadr has rejected both.
[The government's approach has not brought peace. On Thursday, American forces and the militia began fierce fighting, which has continued through Saturday across several cities in the south, and there have been skirmishes in Sadr City. The American military estimated the death toll among the fighters at more than 300. Mr. Sadr's forces said it was about 40. Iraqi government officials sharply criticized the militia and what they said were foreign supporters of the group.
[Mr. Sadr's group called for a fresh uprising against the American-led coalition. "I say 'America is our enemy,' " said Sheik Jaber al-Khafaji, reading a statement from Mr. Sadr during Friday Prayer in Kufa, the city adjacent to Najaf, Mr. Sadr's base. "I warn Iraqi police not to attack any peaceful demonstration."]
In Sadr City recently, a Mahdi Army commander who called himself Haji Abu Mustafa - a name that means he is the father of Mustafa and has been to Mecca - both bragged and lamented about the militia's work with the Iraqi authorities. His group, he said, had retrieved 140 stolen cars and handed over 180 gang members to the police in recent months. He would not reveal much about his group's tactics except to say that Mahdi Army members, posted on each block in this neighborhood, were well placed to collect tips on wrongdoers and miscreants. The neighborhood police, he said, relied on the militia's capabilities but failed to give it credit.
He said the new government had initiated joint operations since coming into power June 28, but he said the Mahdi Army had set up patrols in Sadr City under its own command soon after the ouster of Saddam Hussein and the breakdown of law and order. At the time, the militia was under orders not to provoke the American military but to slip into Sadr City's warren of trash-filled alleys if tanks approached.
The militia has since mobilized in other parts of town, including the pro-Hussein enclave called Haifa Street, Mr. Mustafa said. At the request of the government authorities, he said, Mahdi Army members conducted raids on suspected criminal safe houses and turned over suspects to the police.
Mr. Khadim, the Interior Ministry spokesman, denied such cooperation. Residents of Haifa Street recalled that members of the militia had come into the neighborhood in late July and had used a police raid to do a bit of looting themselves.
Anwar Kareem, a policeman who lives in the area, said the militia members took his watch and money, and a Syrian lawyer, Marwan Tawfiq, recalled them bursting into his home and accusing him of being a terrorist.