Radical Iraqi Cleric Expands His Reach

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Al Sadr, left out "militant" amd "firebrand" this time.

SADR CITY, Iraq — Muqtada Sadr's expanding web of power starts right here, on the teeming streets of a neighborhood in northeastern Baghdad named after his assassinated father and uncle.

It begins with charities and public services, such as subsidized cooking fuel, street cleaning and soccer games for the aimless boys of the Shiite Muslim ghetto.

It extends to neighborhood watch groups and his Al Mahdi militiamen, who control and secure Sadr City as well as southern cities such as Basra, sometimes menacing rival Shiite groups, U.S.-led forces and, more recently, Sunni Arab neighborhoods.

It has spread to Iraq's parliament, where the young anti-U.S. cleric's followers control a key 35-seat bloc that has boosted interim Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari's political fortunes, and to provincial councils and local police forces in the Shiite south, where militiamen serve as a kind of morality police.

LA Times

[tatertop]

1. shuruqi!

US propaganda kills me:

"Sadr's status has alarmed U.S. officials hoping to wind down the American presence and leave behind a stable government."

[bemildred]

2. That is hilarious, isn't it? nt

[tatertop]

5. On the whole he may be Iraq's best hope

I wonder if he is as hard line as the article claims:
were unvieled women beaten and if so were the
beatings carried out on his order?

While it is difficult to find unbiased information
on 'the firebrand cleric,' it would
seem he loves Iraq and is truly concerned for the welfare the people.

[OKNancy]

3. note

feature/analysis article - not breaking news.

[bemildred]

4. OK. nt