Iraq cleric slams occupiers, Shi'ite mayor shot
Source: Reuters
By Claudia Parsons BAGHDAD, March 16 (Reuters) - Radical Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr urged his followers on Friday to oppose occupying troops, raising the pressure on U.S.-backed Iraqi forces conducting a security crackdown in Baghdad. In a possible setback for the crackdown, the mayor of Sadr City, a Shi'ite militia stronghold in the capital, was wounded when gunmen opened fire on his car on Thursday. Sheikh Raheem al-Darruji has been a key figure in facilitating recent joint operations in Sadr City, long a no-go area for U.S. forces and a bastion of the Mehdi Army, a militia loyal to the fiercely anti-American Sadr. A statement from Sadr that was read out at prayers in Sadr City on Friday repeated his longheld opposition to the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq, and appeared to respond to recent statements by U.S. military officials who have said people in Sadr City were cooperating with them. "I'm confident that you consider them (U.S. forces) your enemies," said the statement carrying Sadr's seal which was issued by his office in the holy city of Najaf as well as being read out to thousands of worshippers in Sadr City. "I call upon you all to raise your voices all together and shout with one voice 'No, No, America'," the statement said. Sadr City was viewed as a test of the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government's will to deal as firmly with Shi'ite militias as it does with Sunni Arab insurgents. U.S. commanders say they have met little resistance since launching operations 10 days ago. Sadr's statement denounced U.S. forces as occupiers but did not mention Iraqi security forces. Sadr's political movement has expressed its support for the Baghdad plan as long as operations are conducted by Iraqi forces. PROTEST AT U.S. FORCES A Mehdi Army official said thousands of people demonstrated after prayers on Friday to reject the establishment of a joint U.S.-Iraqi security station in Sadr City. Television pictures showed at least hundreds of people. Major General Joseph Fil, commander of U.S. troops in Baghdad, said on Thursday Sadr did appear to have instructed his followers to work with Iraqi security forces, if not with Americans. "I don't know that we have his support now," he said. The chief spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, Major General William Caldwell, said this week U.S. forces were keeping a close track on Sadr and they believed he was in Iran. His aides have insisted he is still in Iraq. Just a few months ago, Washington called Sadr's Mehdi Army militia the greatest threat to security in Iraq. The radical young cleric headed uprisings against U.S. forces twice in 2004, but his political movement is now an important party in the government of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Thursday's attack on the mayor of Sadr City could complicate efforts to improve security there. An Iraqi police source said Darruji was driving in a private car with a police colonel on Thursday in a district of Sadr City when gunmen in another car opened fire, killing the policeman and wounding the mayor. The mayor's driver was also killed, a U.S. military spokesman said, but the mayor was in "good condition" on Friday. "He has been helpful to the coalition and the efforts to establish the joint security station inside of Sadr City," the spokesman said. (Additional reporting by Khalid Farhan in Najaf and Waleed Ibrahim in Baghdad)
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