A joker in the Shi'ite pack

[bemildred]

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Enter Mahmud al-Hasani

The golden days of Muqtada, however, might be numbered: a new cleric by the name of Mahmud al-Hasani is challenging him in Shi'ite politics.

Born in 1960, Hasani is a relative newcomer to the world of Shi'ite politics in Iraq. He studied under Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, the father of Muqtada, before the latter was killed by Saddam in 1999. He also studied civil engineering at Baghdad University and graduated in 1987.

Under Saddam, he hailed the elder Sadr at a Friday prayer meeting and was arrested and sentenced to death. The sentence was never carried out and he remained in Saddam's jails until April 2003.

Based in Karbala since then, he made something of a name for himself after the US invasion as one of the loudest anti-American Shi'ites. However, when US-Shi'ite relations were at their peak, during the early days of the post-Saddam order, Hasani was neither dangerous nor particularly significant, especially when compared with Muqtada or Sistani.

Asia Times

[acmavm]

1. Lovely...

<snip>

Hasani claims to protect Shi'ites who are loyal to him, and in the process has done his share of sectarian violence, against both Sunnis and other Shi'ites, since February.

In June, Hasani made headlines when his followers stormed the newly opened Iranian Consulate in Basra in the Shi'ite-dominated south. They burned it down and replaced the Iranian flag with an Iraqi one.

The reason, Hasani's office explained, was a controversial interview given by a Lebanese cleric named Ali al-Kourani to the Iranian satellite channel Al-Kawthar. Kourani, who is close to Sistani, made fun of Hasani because the latter claimed that he drank tea with the revered Mehdi (an awaited leader in Shi'ite Islam). On his well-informed website on Iraqi affairs, Professor Juan Cole quoted an occupation official describing Hasani as "a mixture of a criminal and a lunatic who believes he has a hotline to God".

<snip>

asani claims to have 30,000 followers in Iraq. To show his power, he ordered his men to demonstrate in large numbers in August 2005, and they replied promptly in Baghdad and Karbala. To a great extent, he has been influenced by the mass marches of Hezbollah in Lebanon, copied by Muqtada on different occasions, since 2003.

Hasani wants to show the world that he has men with guns who are willing to enforce his power base in the Shi'ite community. This summer, Hasani demanded that religious authorities let him preach at the revered Husayn Shrine. Sistani's men refused even to let them in.

<snip>

For all these reasons, Hasani could become a serous and dangerous player in Iraqi politics. Nobody, however, wants him to make a name for himself because he is at odds with everybody, including Sunnis, the Americans, Iranians and other Shi'ites.

-MORE-

More violence in our future. Even the Shi'ite are fighting amongst themselves. And they aren't calling this a civil war.

[enigma000]

2. Sounds like a man with many enemies

I wonder how long he will last? His supporters burnt down the Iranian Consulate, so I have to assume he's not an ally of the Iranian leadership. I wonder if the Iraqis are getting sick of these fundies.

[acmavm]

3. We'll see. One or the other will have to go. This guy and

as Sadr can't co-exist. Not and both run the show like they each think they should.