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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Ayatollah Haeri says he has withdrawn support for Sadr |
| 2004-09-05 |
| The Shiite cleric based in Iran who was the mentor of the rebel Iraqi cleric Moktada al-Sadr has in recent weeks publicly broken with Mr. Sadr and withdrawn his support. The cleric, Ayatollah Kazem al-Haeri, had once encouraged armed opposition by Mr. Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army, against both Saddam Hussein and American-led forces in Iraq. But Ayatollah Haeri, who has ties to some high-level conservative clerics in Iran, began distancing himself from his protégé a year ago and is now directly appealing for peace. "I condemn the events in Iraq and advise the two groups, the interim government and Mahdi Army, to resolve their differences without the interference of others," he said in a statement after the standoff between Mr. Sadr's militia and American forces flared last month in the Iraqi city of Najaf. Ayatollah Haeri, an Iraqi who came to Qum for religious studies in 1973, had appointed Mr. Sadr to be his representative and Friday Prayer leader in the city of Kufa after the fall of Mr. Hussein. "Moktada is not his representative anymore," the ayatollah's brother, Mustafa Haeri, who is also the director of his brother's office in Qum, said late last month. On his Web site, alhaeri.org, Mr. Haeri denies supporting Mr. Sadr and says that he has stripped him of his position. The first evidence of Ayatollah Haeri's change of heart toward Mr. Sadr came in August 2003, when he told Alireza Shaker, an analyst and journalist in Tehran, that although he opposed the presence of American forces in Iraq, he was concerned over "the timing and the location" of Mr. Sadr's revolt. "He felt that his support for Mr. Sadr may tarnish his reputation in the Shiite world," Mr. Shaker said in an interview. "He wants to be able to play a role in the future of Iraq, and so wants to keep a good name for himself." Mr. Shaker said that when he had visited Ayatollah Haeri last year at his office, a group of Mr. Sadr's supporters, who had come from Iraq, were causing a commotion at his office, apparently in response to his effort to distance himself from Mr. Sadr. "You are traitor," Mr. Shaker said one Iraqi kept shouting. There is heavy security at Ayatollah Haeri's office, on a narrow alley off the main street of Qum. He cautiously drives into the backyard of the office with his bodyguard, who is a member of Iran's hard-line Revolutionary Guard, and refuses to meet with journalists. Ayatollah Haeri, 68, defected to Iran after Mr. Hussein's government began expelling Iraqis who were of Iranian origin. It is unclear whether he was born in Iran or Iraq, but his grandfather was Iranian. Ayatollah Haeri is a supporter of an Islamic state in Iraq, unlike Iraq's most revered cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who favors separation of state and religion. He favored armed opposition of Mr. Hussein, and his religious decrees were collected in a book, "The Case For Armed Opposition." Ayatollah Haeri has developed close ties with Iranian officials over the years and is a member of the board that approves the religious credentials of candidates running for the Council of Experts, which is responsible for supervising the conduct of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. During the Iran- Iraq war Ayatollah Haeri closed his school in Qum and went to fight against Iraq. He urged his students and his son to join the Iranian forces. His son, Javad, was killed in the war. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #12 Bigger insult - shave his beard and moustache. I'd give him a Mohawk, too, but that's just me. :-p Even better idea: Put his hair in curlers, have Lyndie England do him up with makeup, complete with wimmins' panties on his head |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-09-05 3:42:19 PM |
| #11 Boil the SOB in lard. On live satellite feed to the whole world. Advertise this as the going rate for being convicted as a terrorist. It would get their attention, at the very least. |
| Posted by: Jame Retief 2004-09-05 3:23:55 PM |
| #10 CF - good plan, except where are you going to find a woman who would give up her used panties for that? The LLL would be appalled we weren't kissing his ass, and normal women like me wouldn't sully our panties, even knowing they would have to be destroyed with a blowtorch later. Bigger insult - shave his beard and moustache. I'd give him a Mohawk, too, but that's just me. :-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-09-05 3:10:56 PM |
| #9 The Ayatollah came to Cum for religious studies- sure he did, sure he did. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2004-09-05 1:48:19 PM |
| #8 Charles - and if we dont capture OBL then the LLL would claim "Where's Osama?". Mike Al-Moore is already claiming such in Fart-911. Fuck-em. If we get OBL then drag his sorry ass out, put a used woman's panty in his head and parade him down the main streets of NYC. Then take him the the two towers site, grease him in lard and shoot em. Then really get nasty. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-09-05 12:24:22 PM |
| #7 Power Politics. The Iranian Imams are figuring out that the Iraqi Public (especially the Shia) view Al Sadras a thug, and backed by Iranians. This makes the Iranian Imams associated with such things, and makes them much more discredited in the eyes of the public - and strenghtens Al Sistani's hand. Bottom line, Al Sadr's self destruction is making Iranian operations in Iraq even more difficult, due to lack of support from the locals. So they are cutting him off from his allowance for a while. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-09-05 12:00:34 PM |
| #6 Wishful thinking B. If anything, it's most likely mistakes will be made while trying to issue orders for attacks during our election. That would most likely lead to Osama. Which would lead to the LLL mentioning the 'convience of the capture. The timing just might be a conspiracy to keep Kerry out of office too. Except the people behind the plot would be the military, making sure they don't wind up with a dutchsbag for Commander and Cheif. |
| Posted by: Charles 2004-09-05 10:37:35 AM |
| #5 Between this and the article on drudge - talking about the possibility of bin Laden and his top aides being captured - I smell a major sting operation about to go down. |
| Posted by: B 2004-09-05 8:47:49 AM |
| #4 the only redhead in Iraq was captured? Cool! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-09-05 8:42:32 AM |
| #3 Fox has just confirmed Izzat al-Dorui...Saddams number 2 has been captured!!!!! |
| Posted by: Anonymous5668 2004-09-05 8:24:30 AM |
| #2 ookaaay.....what's missing here? A man who is a member of Iran’s hard-line Revolutionary Guard, and refuses to meet with journalists", and has close ties with Iranian officials, is a member of the board that approves the religious credentials of candidates running for the Council of Experts, which is responsible for supervising the conduct of Iran’s supreme leader, fought against Iraq, whose son died in that war and has a book called "The Case for Armed Opposition"...picks Sadr as his man to fight the fight, but .... OVER A YEAR AGO ..."when he told Alireza Shaker, an analyst and journalist in Tehran, that although he opposed the presence of American forces in Iraq, he was concerned over "the timing and the location" of Mr. Sadr’s revolt. "He felt that his support for Mr. Sadr may tarnish his reputation in the Shiite world," Mr. Shaker said in an interview" and over A YEAR AGO distanced himself enough from Sadr to be called "a traitor". oookaay...so he refuses to talk to journalists - but apparently does talk to journalists - and who supports armed opposition - but OVER A YEAR AGO opposed the Sadr monster he created. Question 1. Why are we just hearing about this now? Why is this only now seeing the light of print? Question 2. Does this mean that Sadr is sooo "dead" that Iran is working hard to say they never really liked him much to begin with?? Wow! One can't help but to wonder why this major dismissal of Sadr was never noted before! |
| Posted by: B 2004-09-05 8:09:03 AM |
| #1 hokay! Now, can we kill him? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-09-05 7:28:21 AM |