Al-Sadr leaves mosque in Kufa

[leftchick]

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/097/world/Al_Sadr_leaves_mosque_in_Kufa_:.shtml

KUFA, Iraq (AP) A radical Shiite cleric sought by U.S. forces said Tuesday he left the fortress-like mosque where he has been holed up for days, surrounded by armed supporters. Muqtada al-Sadr, in a statement released by his office, did not say where he had gone.

The United States declared al-Sadr an ''outlaw'' after his militiamen battled coalition troops Sunday in Baghdad and outside Najaf in fights that killed 61 people including eight U.S. soldiers.

U.S. officials announced an arrest warrant against al-Sadr on Monday, suggesting they would move soon to detain him.

Al-Sadr supporters clashed Tuesday with British troops in the southern city of Amarah, and witnesses reported seeing Iraqis killed in the fight. British officials had no immediate comment.

[DemBones DemBones]

1. Aljazeera ran a profile on al-Sadr Monday

and it suggests two Arab/ Muslim criticisms of him (in bold -- my addition.)

Muqtada al-Sadr – a profile

Monday 05 April 2004, 20:58 Makka Time, 17:58 GMT
Al-Sadr is seen by many as a zealous leader


Muqtada al-Sadr has recently emerged as a Muslim Shia leader who vociferously rejects the US-led occupation in Iraq. He is seen by many Shia and politicians as a zealous leader who has chosen the wrong time for this escalation of protests.   About 30 years old, al-Sadr is a son of the Grand Ayat Allah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, a prominent Iraqi Shia leader who was killed in 1999 along with two of his other sons. Hardly known outside Iraq, and lacking the religious education and degrees required by Shia doctrines, al-Sadr bases his religious authority on his lineage.

<snip>

Continuing his father's bid to lead al-Hawza in Najaf, his followers surrounded the home of Grand Ayat Allah Ali Sistani, an Iranian citizen, asking him to leave the country soon after occupation. This followed the murder of the prominent Shia cleric Abd al-Majid al-Khoie who had returned to Iraq with US forces after years in exile. Muqtada al-Sadr found a great deal of space for manoeuvre - as is the case with all Iraq’s political and religious factions. He consolidated his power base among his father's supporters and started a conscious anti-occupation campaign. 


More. . .


http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage

[DrBB]

3. Wow. So he's like the Shi'a version of Bush

No qualifications, just the family name, a zealot's mentality and a ruthless way with internal opponents. Has a kind of familiar ring, neh?

[TroglodyteScholar]

4. You took the words.....

.....right out of my fingers.

[DemBones DemBones]

6. Yes, indeed, DrBB. I suppose it's appropriate for

the two to oppose each other.

[ahimsa]

15. subtle difference

His cause might actually be just. But I haven't read enough to make a proper couch potato judgement. :freak:

[xchrom]

2. removing the ''head'' in this case

will not give the coalition of the willing what they are looking for.
al-sadr is is merely the public voice for a movement already in full swing.

[DemBones DemBones]

5. The US wants to arrest Muqtada al-Sadr on charges he was

involved in the 2003 killing of Abd al-Majid al-Khoie.

In the profile of al-Sadr published Monday, Aljazeera said:

"Continuing his father's bid to lead al-Hawza in Najaf, his followers surrounded the home of Grand Ayat Allah Ali Sistani, an Iranian citizen, asking him to leave the country soon after occupation. This followed the murder of the prominent Shia cleric Abd al-Majid al-Khoie who had returned to Iraq with US forces after years in exile. Muqtada al-Sadr found a great deal of space for manoeuvre - as is the case with all Iraq’s political and religious factions. He consolidated his power base among his father's supporters and started a conscious anti-occupation campaign." 

(link in my post above)

I read the Aljazeera article last night, before I knew what the US charges against al-Sadr were, and I thought Aljazeera was hinting that al-Sadr may have been behind the murder of Abd al-Majid al-Khoie.

[David__77]

7. I'm surprised he left.

He must not be prepared to die. Were he to be killed there, it would have serious consequences. He is of course only 30 or 31 though...

[SoCalDem]

8. Ummmm.. We knew where he was.. We wanted him...

AND HE GOT AWAY?????? Is he the Iraqi version of Osama???

[leftchick]

9. CNN reported that he has moved...

to another mosque. I will look for other reports...

[leftchick]

10. Shiite cleric Sadr ends sit-in, moves to holy city of Najaf : New Link!

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-04/06/content_1404552.htm

<snip>
BAGHDAD, April 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr,wanted by coalition forces in Iraq, ended his sit-in at a mosque in Kufa Tuesday and travelled to the holy city of Najaf to prevent more bloodshed.

"I have taken it upon myself to prevent more bloodshed except mine," he said in a statement, expressing his concern that the US troops may violate the sacred site of Al Kufa mosque.

Sadr said he took his decision to "observe a peaceful sit-in" at the mosque of Al Kufa to protest against "the aggressions committedby the infidel occupier against civilians".

An arrest warrant has been issued last year for Sadr for the murder of a rival cleric, Abdel Majid al-Khoei, just days after thefall of Saddam's regime.

Thousands of his supporters gathered in the mosque and vowed to defend him to the death after US civil administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer declared Sadr an outlaw on Monday. Enditem

[SOS]

11. Shiites clash with British....in 1920.

BAGHDAD Ð It's one of the loneliest places in Baghdad - the British military cemetery, where hundreds of forlorn gravestones attest to the price of imperialism in Iraq.

In 1920, a Shiite revolt erupted against British occupiers, who had arrived in Mesopotamia at the start of World War I. Britain pushed out Ottoman forces, but didn't move fast enough to create a promised new nation state. The uprising surprised the British, left more than 2,200 occupation troops and an estimated 8,450 Iraqis dead or wounded.

When the British came to Baghdad in 1917, they declared that 'We are here as liberators, not occupiers.'

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0311/p01s03-woiq.html

[dArKeR]

12. Sadr ends Kufa sit-in - News24

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1509068,00.html

[dArKeR]

13. Look at the NIKE advertisement on this LINK!!!!!

http://www.news24.com/News24/HomeLite/ grab it before NIKE sues them!

[Mattforclark]

14. It's quite possible that this could be misinformation

Earlier, he supposedly moved to Najaf. Now, he supposedly moved to Najaf. Who knows.

Anyway, a spoon full of sodium chloride helps the medicine go down.

[Aidoneus]

16. Sadr Ends Sit-In ‘To Turn Off Bloodshed’

Sadr Ends Sit-In ‘To Turn Off Bloodshed’

BAGHDAD, April 6 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr said Tuesday, April 6, he ended his sit-in at a mosque in Kufa and traveled to the holy city of An-Najaf to prevent “more bloodshed”, while Shiites’ spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Sistani called for calm and voiced his solidarity with the young firebrand leader.

“I have taken it upon myself to prevent more bloodshed,” he said in a statement, expressing concern the “sacred site of the mosque not be violated ... by people who do not back down from anything” out of respect for holy places, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

Sadr said his decision to “observe a peaceful sit-in” at the mosque was taken to protest against “the aggressions committed by the infidel occupier against civilians”.

--snip--

Sadr’s Spokesman Qais Al-Khazali said Tuesday that fuming Shiites took to the streets spontaneously, denying that Sadr had sparked the uprising.

“It is a public uprising,” Khazali told a press conference, warning that it would rage on until occupation troop withdraw from populated areas and Iraqi prisoners are released.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT
--snip--

http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-04/06/article03.shtml

[bemildred]

17. Seemed funny to me too.

Who is diddling with who's brain here?

[newyawker99]

18. Aidoneus

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
news source.


Thank you.

DU Moderator