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Iraqâs Mysterious Vigilante Killers
TimeThe dark blue Volvo sped toward the guard post near Najafâs Safi al-Safa shrine just as the muezzin began his evening call to prayers. Inside the car, three gunmen prepared to fire. Their targets were members of the Mahdi Army, a band of militants loyal to the firebrand Shiâite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has holed up in Najaf for the past month to avoid capture by the 2,500 U.S. soldiers surrounding the city. As the Volvo neared the tiny brick-and-reed building, a gunman in the car opened up with his AK-47, hitting one of al-Sadrâs men. Mahdi Army members say they ran the Volvo down, killing one of the three gunmen and capturing the remaining two. But other witnesses say the car disappeared into the night, its occupants unharmed. Either way, it was a blow for al-Sadrâs army, which last month staged dramatic uprisings against coalition forces in several cities. A Volvo? Masquerading as lefty college professors and yuppie NGO workers certainly seems like a good plan. With the U.S. seeking to avoid an outright confrontation with al-Sadrâs forces inside Najaf, the holiest city for Iraqâs majority Shiâites, a shadowy group of al-Sadrâs rivals appears to be taking matters into its own hands. Locals say the gunmen in the Volvo came from a new group calling itself the Thulfiqar Army, seemingly named for a famed two-pronged sword that in Shiâite tradition was used by Imam Ali, the martyred son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. Two weeks ago, the group began distributing leaflets ordering al-Sadr to leave Najaf immediately or face death. Since then, residents say, Thulfiqar has killed up to four Mahdi Army militiamen, a figure challenged by al-Sadr officials, who claim the group is the invention of American propaganda. U.S. officials say they believe the group exists but have few clues about its composition. "We donât assess it to be a very large activity at this point," coalition spokesman Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said last week. Plenty of people have an interest in seeing al-Sadr and his ragtag army cut down. The cleric has little widespread support among mainstream Shiâites. But al-Sadrâs rise has alarmed senior Shiâite clerics, who view him as an upstart demagogue. Al-Sadrâs troops have regularly clashed with the more powerful Shiâite militia known as the Badr Brigade. Grand Ayatullah Ali Husaini Sistani, the most prominent Shiâite leader in Iraq, has ordered all Shiâite factions to avoid further confrontation with al-Sadrâs men, fearing it would lead to fratricidal Shiâite violence, but, Iraqi intelligence sources say, Thulfiqar could be a splinter faction of the Badr Brigade working independently. Those sources think Thulfiqar may also be receiving support from Iranâs intelligence services, which may fear that al-Sadrâs anti-U.S. militancy could jeopardize the expected establishment of a Shiâite-dominated government. Many residents of Najaf have tired of al-Sadr and his militiaâs thuggish ways. Out of earshot of Mahdi Army members, locals complain that al-Sadrâs men raid shops for supplies, confiscate mobile telephones and arrest people on suspicion of spying. A pro-al-Sadr newspaper ran a picture last week of a man hanged by al-Sadr followers for "spying." Waving the photo, Muntadhar al-Khazali, 18, an al-Sadr loyalist, issued a threat to others: "Anyone who works against us, this will be their fate. We will never let Muqtada al-Sadr die. If America is such a great country, why doesnât it come and get him?" Perhaps because thereâs a reasonable chance that someone else will first. Sheesh, Muntadhar, havenât you heard that harsh measures will only inflame the anti-Sadr resistance? Donât you read your own propaganda? What about cause and effect? Deplorable as this sort of militancy is, we can expect it to continue until the root causes of American anger have been addressed. â Reported by Hassan Fattah/Dubai and Meitham Jasim/Najaf Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-05-03 |
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