Western Resistance

« Qatar: Albright Rejects Theories of Islam vs. the West War | | Bangladesh: Gunfight With JMB Islamists in Tangail »

December 4, 2005

Iraq: Attempt On Life Of Former Prime Minister In Najaf Mosque

The impressive building at right is the Mosque of Imam Ali in Najaf. It is the most important shrine in the Shia world outside Mecca, for it houses the tomb of Imam Ali.

Ali ibn Abi Talib (b. 598) was the cousin and son-in law of the Prophet Mohammed, who had chosen him to be his successor, according to Shia traditions, which also place Ali as the rightful first Caliph and first Imam. For Sunnis Ali was the fourth Caliph, gaining the title when Uthman, Caliph No 3, got lynched by an angry crowd in 656. Following Ali's murder in 661 by Kharijite assassasins, the schism between Shia and Sunni was formed.

The mosque's significance was exploited by Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who in 2004 had armed militia housed in the mosque.

The mosque features in the news again today, as reported by Reuters, the BBC and others. The reason is that a former Prime Minister of Iraq, Iyad Allawi (pictured left), claims he was nearly assassinated today while in the mosque.

He said a group of 60 - 70 men dressed in black had entered the building while he was praying. "It appeared to be an assassination attempt," he said. One of the men apparently took aim at him, but then dropped the pistol, Allawi told reporters. He had only entered the mosque with a handful of gunmen.

The former premier declined to say who he thought was behind the attack but dropped broad hints that he believed Islamist militias, the target of frequent verbal attacks from Allawi, were responsible. Many militiamen dress in uniform black.

Referring to the killing in 2003 at the same mosque of a leading cleric, widely blamed on rival Shi'ite religious groups, Allawi said: "It was the same chanting resembling the chanting documented in investigations, linked to the martyrdom of Abdul Majeed al-Khoei."

Allawi and his group fled from the mosque followed by a mob throwing stones, tomatoes and shoes. Their escape was shown on TV. The hurling of shoes is perceived as an insult.

Allawi had been on the campaign trail, as he is standing for a post in the new government, whose members are being voted on December 15. His current campaign is based on combating violence and also religious militias.

Allawi is a secular Shia, and he had been the interim Prime Minister when the holy shrine at Najaf had been freed by US forces from its occupation by the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The radical imam's supporters surrendered the mosque and its surrounding complex in September 2004. Allawi stepped down from his premier role in January this year.

The US government was supporting Allawi during the rift with extremist Moqtada's Shias. Reuters notes that Allawi did not want to specify the name of the group, but by implication he seems to refer to his assailants being al-Sadr's followers.

Two police officers in Najaf claimed al-Sadr's supporters were responsible for the incident in the mosque.

Al-Sadr has been fairly quiet of late. His father was a famous Shia cleric, Muhammad Sadiq Sadr, who was assassinated in 1999, apparently by agents of Saddam's government. The name "Sadr" has a cachet in Iraq - the Shia district of Baghdad became renamed Sadr City after the invasion of 2003. Moqtada jnr utilises his name for political advantage.

A judge ordered an arrest warrant against Moqtada al-Sadr, for the murder of Abdul Majid al-Khoei, who was murdered in April 2003. Al-Sadr has consistently denied involvement in the death of al-Khoei, who was a moderate Shia leader.

Al-Sadr is anything but a moderate. In June 2003, he established his own militia, called the Mehdi Army, in defiance of coalition arms controls, in Najaf. The stated aim of the Mehdi Army was to protect the holy shrines of Najaf. When they occupied the Imam Ali complex to use as a military base, they risked firepower being brought upon the holy mosque they had vowed to protect. Al-Sadr has been extremely vocal with complaints about the US-led coalition forces' presence in Iraq.

Moqtada al-Sadr arranged a meeting in October between a journalist for the Guardian, Roy Carroll, and a victim of Saddam's regime. Shortly after the visit, Carroll was kidnapped. Carroll was released unharmed after 36 hours' captivity. The journalist was told by his kidnappers that he was to be used as a bargaining chip to enable the release of a number of al-Sadr's followers, detained after their capture in Basra. A biography of Moqtada al-Sadr can be found at Global Security.

The ariel view of the mosque is from Global Security which has other ariel views of the mosque complex at Najaf.

Keywords: Muqtada al-Sadr, Moqtada al-Sadr

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at December 4, 2005 3:58 PM

Comments

Post a comment