Saturday, June 09, 2007

Creating theocracy: US brutality, corruption, incompetancy allow fundamentialist thug to raise legimate claims and pave foundation for future rule

Al-Sadr, in rare TV interview, decries U.S. presence

Cleric criticizes prime minister, calling him 'neglectful' and sectarian

By LEILA FADEL

BAGHDAD — In a rare appearance on state-operated Iraqi television, radical anti-American Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Thursday called the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "neglectful" and sectarian and blamed Iraq's problems on the U.S. presence in the country.

The tone of his statements weren't surprising. Al-Sadr has been consistently anti-American since his Mahdi Army militia first rebelled against the U.S. presence in 2004.

He's also grown increasingly critical of al-Maliki, who came to office last year largely on the strength of al-Sadr's support, and last month al-Sadr withdrew his backers from al-Maliki's government.

His willingness to sit for an interview that lasted nearly an hour marked a new stage in his efforts to recast himself as a nationalist figure capable of uniting Sunni and Shiite partisans, two weeks after he resurfaced from a months-long absence.

In the interview, al-Sadr said that "the layers of government and parties are turning their backs on the people." He added that the government is only half-hearted in its efforts to serve the people.

He said that Sunnis and Shiites have a common enemy — Sunni extremists, known in Iraqi Arabic as takfir. In Islam, takfir is the act of declaring someone an infidel.

"The enemy of all Islam has become the takfir," al-Sadr said. "Before they were killing Shiites with their car bombs. Now they are killing Sunnis with their car bombs. They have become a common enemy."

Al-Sadr, believed to be in his early 30s, ticked off a laundry list of Iraq's problems — sectarianism, lack of services, lack of security, the Mahdi Army's reputation as a brutal killer of Sunnis. But the culprit was always the same — "the occupation."

Al-Sadr also rejected any interference from Iran, which the U.S. military has accused of supplying elements of the Mahdi Army and other Shiite militias with weapons, training and support.

The U.S. military said al-Sadr took refuge in Iran during his absence. Al-Sadr's aides deny that he was outside Iraq.

"I must maintain friendly and good relations with Iran, but nothing else," al-Sadr said.

He said he would never negotiate with American officials, despite assertions last week by Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 U.S. military commander in Iraq, that the U.S. was interested in opening such talks.

"I refuse any sit-down with the occupation, whether in Iraq or outside," he said.

Britain ready for talks
Meanwhile, the British ambassador to Iraq signaled that his government was ready to talk to those behind the abduction of five Britons in Baghdad last month. Iraqi officials have said they believe the Britons were taken by the Mahdi Army militia, which is largely loyal to al-Sadr.

Many people in Iraq believe al-Sadr is Iraq's most popular political figure, thanks largely to the millions of impoverished Shiites who were devoted to his father, a popular cleric who was assassinated during Saddam Hussein's rule. Al-Sadr has cemented that loyalty with his Mahdi Army, which many Shiites credit with protecting them from Sunni insurgents.

Al-Sadr said other Arab countries need to help end the "suffering of Iraqis" in the interest of their own security.

Original article posted here.

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