Wednesday, Aug 11, 2004
Wednesday, Aug 11, 2004 |
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By Rory McCarthy
NAJAF, AUG. 10. Iraq's rebel Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr defied a five-day onslaught by the U.S. military yesterday to appear in public for the first time since launching his latest uprising. As his militia fought in the streets around him, Mr. Sadr was led into a thickly carpeted room inside the gold-domed Imam Ali shrine in the heart of the old city of Najaf. There, before a stylised portrait of his revered father, he committed himself to a bitter fight against the U.S. ``I am staying in Najaf and I will not leave,'' he said. ``I am here as a defender of Najaf. I will stay until the last drop of my blood is spilled.'' In the streets outside, his militia, the Mehdi army, fired rocket-propelled grenades at American positions. U.S. marines returned fire with heavy machine guns. ``I told the Mehdi army they are my brothers and I am one of them,'' said the cleric. ``They should call this the honest resistance. We are defending Islam.''
Violent uprisings
In April the 30-year-old cleric led a series of violent uprisings across southern Iraq, the first time the Shia fought against the occupation. Eventually he struck a deal with the U.S. military to end the conflict, but last Thursday that truce was broken, and fighting has raged since in Najaf and elsewhere. In Basra yesterday a British soldier was killed and four others were injured when two military Land Rovers were set on fire after militiamen loyal to Mr. Sadr fired rocket-propelled grenades at their patrol. A military spokeswoman said Iraq's second largest city, the southern oil production centre, was ``extremely tense''. Fighting also spread to the southern city of Diwaniya, where witnesses said militia had surrounded the police station. The Iraqi Government imposed a night-time curfew yesterday in Sadr City, the eastern slums of Baghdad, where Mr. Sadr's movement is particularly well supported. ``I don't tell anyone to resist, but the Americans have created a resistance,'' Mr. Sadr said. ``We don't want anything more than independence, freedom and democracy for our country.'' The cleric has refused to take part in the political process, though he appears to be preparing to contest the elections which are due to be held next January. He said he wanted the Iraqi Government put in charge of the U.S.-led multi-national forces. "When I see the Americans under their command I will take part in their elections,'' he said. ``Now I am the enemy of America from now until judgment day.'' Mr. Sadr's presence in the Najaf shrine yesterday and the position of hundreds of his fighters throughout the old city suggested he remains in a stronger position than the U.S. military has so far admitted. The cleric has ignored several ultimatums calling on him to withdraw.
No evidence
The U.S. commanders claim they have killed as many as 360 militiamen, but there is no evidence to support this. Hussein Hadi, the deputy director of Najaf's main hospital, said yesterday that 23 people had been killed since the fighting started last week and 98 had been injured, mostly civilians. Among the dead were five Iraqi police and four Iraqi army soldiers, he said. The Mehdi army treats its own injured away from the hospital. — Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
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