BAGHDAD, Iraq – Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical anti-American cleric, has backed away from confrontation with U.S. and Iraqi forces in recent weeks, a move that has surprised U.S. officials who long have characterized his movement as among the greatest threats to Iraq’s security.
Thursday, a leader of the al-Sadr movement in one of its Baghdad strongholds publicly endorsed the security plan that at least some U.S. officials have touted as a way to combat al-Sadr’s movement. “We will fully cooperate with the government to make the plan successful,” said Abdul-Hussein Kaabai, the head of the local council in Shiite-dominated Sadr City. “If it is an Iraqi plan done by the government, we will cooperate.”
Over the last several weeks, al-Sadr and his followers have abandoned threats to quit Iraq’s U.S.-backed government. And after years of turning up their noses at the “occupier,” they have allowed emissaries to meet with U.S. officials.
Many U.S. officials are skeptical of al-Sadr’s moves, recalling his history as leader of a violent group and wondering whether he and his movement have actually changed or are just lying low at a time of particular scrutiny and potential peril.
“There’s a change of behavior that we can see,” U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told a group of Western reporters this week. “If it’s a change of heart, that’s a good thing. If it’s a change of tactic, we need to be cautious.”
Al-Sadr allies suggest that he has begun heeding appeals from other Shiite leaders, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, that he temper his actions in order to preserve unity in the Shiite-dominated government.
“We were not going to be dragged into a trap to clash with the government or any other of our people,” said Nasser Rubayie, a member of parliament close to the cleric. “We are aware such a thing could happen.”
Others suggest that al-Sadr has been mellowed by the realities of exercising power. The al-Sadr movement controls several government ministries, including health and transportation. Control of those bureaucracies have given the young cleric substantial patronage and resources and made him one of the country’s most powerful men. But being part of a government characterized by inefficiency, corruption and brutality also has made al-Sadr answerable for its many sins and undercut his popularity, Iraqi officials close to al-Sadr said.
“His supporters were taking money by force and political office by force,” said Sheik Diyadin Fayidh, a Shiite cleric and lawmaker from a rival faction in Parliament. “They lost their popularity among the Iraqi people. He was forced to disavow hundreds of his supporters because of their actions.”
The Mahdi army, the fast-growing and powerful militia which al-Sadr launched as a social and political movement to protect poor Shiites, has become perceived in many areas as just another armed group terrorizing ordinary Iraqis.
“Once if there was a problem in a neighborhood, people would call upon the Mahdi army,” said Fayidh. “Now no one trusts them.”
“The positive thing is that Muqtada is now listening and taking advice,” said Fayidh. “It was different before. His whole strategy before was to oppose others and be alone in his decisions.”
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