Clashes between coalition forces and supporters of radical
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Iraq on Sunday left 52 Iraqis and
nine coalition troops dead, prompting U.S. officials in Iraq to
enforce a warrant for al-Sadr’s arrest.
American officials would not say when they would move to arrest
al-Sadr, who is holed up in the main mosque in Kufa, south of
Baghdad, and guarded by armed supporters.
L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. official in Iraq, canceled a trip
to Washington this week, a Senate aide said Monday. The aide said
Bremer was to have given a closed-door briefing Thursday to the
full Senate on the situation in Iraq, but Senate officials were
informed Monday morning that the visit to Washington had been put
off. No reason was given for the postponement, the aide said.
U.S. troops surrounded the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad,
poised for a major operation in response to the grisly slaying and
mutilation of four American civilians by insurgents there last
week. A Marine was killed Monday in the Fallujah area, the military
said, without providing details.
But this response by the United States threatens to further
escalate the conflict between insurgents and coalition forces,
analysts said.
“These latest uprisings by (al-Sadr’s) forces
““ they have followed upon aggressive moves from our troops,
so they have come in retaliation for aggressive action,” said
Michael Mann, a UCLA sociology professor who has expertise on
Iraq.
“This follows two months after U.S. forces have been
withdrawing from many major cities,” Mann said. “As
soon as that happens, insurgent forces are moving into the
towns.”
The showdown with al-Sadr threatened to heighten tensions with
Iraq’s Shiite Muslim majority at a time when U.S. troops are
burdened by the Sunni guerrillas’ bloody insurgency. But
American officials apparently hope the Shiite public ““ many
of whom distrust al-Sadr ““ will not rally around the
cleric.
James Gelvin, a UCLA associate professor of history, said the
Shiite insurgency reflects a growing resistance to U.S. occupation
in Iraq because the Shiite rebellion now exists whereas only Sunni
resistance once did.
The U.S. occupation also has had unintended consequences, Gelvin
said, as it has begun to get “both Sunnis and Shiites to
unite around a program of anti-Americanism.”
Mann believes the confrontation with al-Sadr likely will bolster
his status among the Shiite people, with whom he holds “only
10-20 percent” support.
“The target by U.S. forces will increase his popularity
““ he wants to become a generally recognized leader of Iraqi
resistance to the United States,” Mann said.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the potential for violence depended
on “˜”˜whether (al-Sadr) decides to come peacefully or
whether he decides to come not peacefully. That choice is the
choice of Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr.”
Al-Sadr, a 30-year-old firebrand who frequently denounces the
U.S. occupation in his sermons, vowed to resist.
The Americans “˜”˜have the money, weapons and huge
numbers, but these things are not going to weaken our will because
God is with us,” he said in a statement sent to the
Arab TV station Al-Jazeera, which provided a copy to The Associated
Press.
“˜”˜We don’t fear death, and martyrdom gives us
dignity from God,” al-Sadr said.
Several hundred of his armed militiamen control Kufa, holding
its police station and blocking a road leading to the main
mosque.
U.S. officials said the warrant against al-Sadr ““ on
charges of murdering a rival cleric ““ was issued months ago
by an Iraqi judge and that Iraqis only now want to carry it out.
The crackdown on the opponent of the U.S. administration also comes
as the June 30 deadline approaches for the transfer of power from
the Americans to the Iraqis.
“Whether there is a formal power at the end of June, I
don’t think will matter very much,” Mann said.
“The troubles will continue.”
“It’s difficult to say if there will be a rising
crescendo of violence or if it will continue to stutter
along,” he said.
President Bush portrayed on Monday al-Sadr’s removal as a
step toward protecting democracy. “˜”˜This is one person
that is deciding that rather than allowing democracy to flourish,
he’s going to exercise force,” he told
reporters. “˜”˜We just can’t let it
stand.”
Al-Sadr is calling for an Islamic government, which many Iraqis
support, but coalition forces are fighting against him and his
supporters because they believe the type of Islamic fundamentalism
precipitated by al-Sadr poses a threat to democracy.
“Now we have a rebellion on our hands by people calling
for an Islamic government,” Gelvin said.
Sunday’s clashes ““ sparked by the arrest of an
al-Sadr aide who is also accused in the slaying of rival cleric
Abdel-Majid al-Khoei ““ were a surprise show of power by
al-Sadr’s militia, the al-Mahdi Army.
Fighting was particularly fierce in Sadr City, a Shiite
neighborhood in Baghdad, where militiamen ambushed U.S. soldiers,
killing eight and sparking battles that killed 30 Iraqis and
wounded 110 others. It took a column of tanks to restore quiet and
force the militiamen out of police stations they had seized after
police fled.
Al-Sadr’s main support is among young seminary students
and impoverished Shiites, devoted to him because of his anti-U.S.
stance and the memory of his father, a religious leader gunned down
by suspected agents of Saddam Hussein in 1999.
However, al-Sadr’s religious status is low, giving him
less influence than more moderate Shiite leaders. And many Shiites
see him as erratic.
Because of his youth, Gelvin said, “he’s not
recognized by members of the Shiite community as somebody that
should have influence.”
But al-Sadr’s support derives largely from his visibility
in the Shiite community, which makes it difficult to determine his
actual level of support.
Al-Sadr supporters were angered by the closure of his weekly
newspaper by U.S. officials, who accused the paper of inciting
violence.
“He has been the cleric who has been the most hostile to
the U.S. invasion,” Mann said.
Violence broke out Monday morning in another Shiite neighborhood
of the capital, al-Shoala, where militiamen clashed with a U.S.
patrol. An American armored vehicle caught fire, and an Iraqi ran
away with a heavy machine gun. A U.S. Apache helicopter was hit by
small arms fire and responded with a barrage of machine-gun rounds,
the U.S. military officials said.
Militiamen also traded fire with British troops in the southern
cities of Basra and Amarah, sparking fights that killed three
Iraqis, witnesses said.
With reports from Bruin wire services.