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| Iraq-Jordan |
| The Thulfiqar Army |
| 2004-05-06 |
| Armed with a 9mm handgun and grit, Haidar is trying to do what the U.S. military camped nearby hasn't done: Drive the gunmen of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr from this holy city. Since mid-April, Haidar and scores of other men from An-Najaf have gathered nightly in the city's sprawling cemetery to attack members of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. Only a few gunmen are targeted each time to prevent big firefights that might injure civilians, said Haidar, who spoke with Knight Ridder on the condition that his last name not be used. ``If we capture them and they swear on the holy Koran they will leave Najaf and never come back, we let them go,'' the 20-year-old furniture maker said. ``If they resist, they are killed.'' The group claimed to have killed at least a half-dozen Mahdi gunmen and chased off more than 20. This is the first known homebred movement against Sadr, and it illustrates the animosity toward the radical cleric within Iraq's Shiite community, which makes up the majority of Iraq's population. Many Shiites in An-Najaf say only a small number of Iraqi Shiites support Sadr. But the grand ayatollahs who guide the Shiites are withholding support from Haidar and his band of vigilantes, fearing a civil war among their followers. U.S. authorities have expressed hope that the Shiite community will take care of Sadr and have yet to condemn the vigilante attacks, leaving the impression that they endorse them. U.S. forces have sought to arrest the cleric and disband the Mahdi Army, but they don't want to risk a public backlash that would follow a military incursion into An-Najaf. An-Najaf business leaders, some of whom Haidar and others say are financing the resistance movement, say there's no choice but to fight back. Sadr ``is just a child and he's running everything,'' complained one shop owner, Mohammed Hassan, 45, who sells women's sundries in the main bazaar. ``We haven't been able to get our goods from Baghdad since his men took over our city. They stop the trucks at checkpoints and steal everything.'' Like the Mahdi Army, which Sadr named after a Shiite messianic figure to portray his fight against U.S. occupation as God-driven, the countermilitia has adopted a religious name. The group is called Thul Fiqar al-Battar, named after the double-edged sword carried by Grand Imam Ali, recognized by this Muslim sect as the successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Haidar says the name is particularly relevant because his colleagues are targeting a group that commandeered the holy An-Najaf shrine where Grand Imam Ali is buried. But unlike Mahdi militiamen, who often dress in black and carry Kalashnikovs or rocket-propelled grenade launchers, Thul Fiqar fighters try to remain invisible. They carry only handguns, because they can be hidden in their street clothes. They use the common checkered keffiyeh, or Arab headdress, to cover their faces when they go on raids. Many lack military training. Before joining Thul Fiqar, Haidar said he had shot his 9mm handgun only once and that was into the air to celebrate the capture of Saddam. Yet the men have a major tactical advantage over Mahdi members, many of whom are from nearby Al-Kufah, Baghdad and other southern towns. Thul Fiqar fighters are hometown boys who know every inch of An-Najaf, including the hundreds of pathways in the cemetery, which is the largest Muslim burial ground in the world. This cemetery is where they have concentrated their attacks against Sadr's gunmen, who go there at night to monitor U.S. troop movements in the distance. The immediate impact is negligible, Haidar admitted. Mahdi Army numbers in and around An-Najaf are estimated in the thousands, compared with the 250 claimed by the Thul Fiqar. Their quest also comes at a high price. Four members of the new group have been killed in firefights with the Mahdi Army, said Hashim, 27, a Thul Fiqar leader who refused to give his last name. ``The Americans made us happy when they got rid of Saddam Hussein,'' Haidar said. ``We're happy to return the favor by getting rid of the Mahdi Army.'' |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #6 ``We're happy to return the favor by getting rid of the Mahdi Army.'' Thank You. |
| Posted by: raptor 2004-05-06 5:48:32 PM |
| #5 It is about raw, naked political (and, by extension, economic) power. That is their religion. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-05-06 4:08:04 PM |
| #4 "We haven't been able to get our goods from Baghdad since his men took over our city. They stop the trucks at checkpoints and steal everything." It's nice to hear the truth spoken so plainly about these thugs. I have long maintained that the insurgency has nothing to do with religion. It is about raw, naked political (and, by extension, economic) power. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-05-06 3:44:33 PM |
| #3 I forwarded this article as soon as it was up to Sullivan, Instapundit, WSJ, and LGF. The only bad thing is the photo of the Thulfiqar soldier was not included online. I should scan it and post it on Rantburg. It would put a face to all the Iraqis pissed off at Sadr. |
| Posted by: Cog 2004-05-06 2:52:04 PM |
| #2 ``If we capture them and they swear on the holy Koran they will leave Najaf and never come back, we let them go,'' the 20-year-old furniture maker said. ``If they resist, they are killed.'' Yeah, like their oaths are worth spit. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-05-06 2:20:15 PM |
| #1 Iraq's 93rd Volunteer Infantry in action! |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-05-06 2:14:04 PM |