A leading Shiite cleric denounced Iraq's new Governing Council and the US occupation of the country on Friday during a weekly sermon to thousands of followers in Najaf. Moqtada Sadr, a fiery cleric who has emerged as a prominent figure in post-war Iraq, blasted "the illegitimate council created by the United States and their servants" in his first sermon since the 25-member body was inaugurated last Sunday. "They have delivered this peaceful Muslim country to the foreign forces," railed the cleric, whose confrontational style is seen as a potential threat to US ambitions to remake Iraq as a Western-style democracy.
| Moqtada's a 22-year-old wannabe ayatollah, whose idea of civil, well-reasoned discourse is to chase other ayatollahs out of the country... |
"No, no to the United States, No, no to Israel, No, no to the Governing Council," his followers chanted, in a vitriolic outpouring by members of the country's estimated 15-million-strong Shiite majority. Sadr also announced the formation of a private militia called the "Mehdi army", an allusion to the Shiite community's belief in the arrival of their 12th imam, or religious guide. The Shiites are crucial to Washington's aspirations here and have so far mostly gone along with the US plans to reshape the country.
| All but Moqtada and his bully boyz. They've been a consistent thorn in the allied side, as well as a thorn in the Shiites' side. He doesn't think he can overreach because Pop's a dead Shiite hero — but he will, and probably soon. Setting up a private "army" could even be the occasion... |
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