With Islamic extremists raising their ominous-looking flags over Falluja and Ramadi again, it's not looking too good in Iraq and the rest of the neighborhood. Sure, Iraqi government forces may take back some territory they lost, but it's never a good sign when you have to shell your own country to maintain order.
Iraqi Cleric, Exiting Politics, Urges Others to Keep Serving
By DURAID ADNANFEB. 18, 2014
BAGHDAD — Moktada al-Sadr, the influential anti-American Shiite cleric, reaffirmed in a speech in Najaf on Tuesday that he was withdrawing from Iraqi politics, telling his followers in Parliament to continue to serve but not on his behalf.
In the speech, Mr. Sadr, 40, encouraged all Iraqis to participate in elections so that they would be represented fairly. He criticized the current government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, saying it was behaving like a dictatorship and was using the army against the people.
“Iraq is under a black cloud, bloodshed and wars, killing each other in the name of law and religion,” Mr. Sadr said, adding that the country had “no life, no agriculture, no industry, no services, no security and no peace.”
Moktada al-Sadr Credit Reuters
He said that though the Maliki government had gained power promising to improve the lot of Iraq’s Shiite majority, which suffered under the long dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, it turned out to be “a group of wolves hungry for power and money, backed by the West and the East,” and that “politics became a door for injustice and carelessness.”
Mr. Sadr did not ask the 40 lawmakers belonging to his party, the Ahrar bloc, to resign their seats in the 325-member Parliament. “If you are a good politician, continue your work — but not under my name,” he said. He said in his statement on Saturday that no one should claim to speak for the party any more.
In the sectarian unrest after the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Mr. Sadr led a Shiite militia, the Mahdi Army, that fought against both the American forces and Iraqi Sunnis. He built a political movement modeled on the Lebanese organization Hezbollah that fused populism, Shiite faith and military strength to amass political power. In the national elections of 2010, he emerged as a kingmaker, throwing his support behind Mr. Maliki at Iran’s urging, but since then the two men have been more rivals than allies.
Mr. Sadr’s withdrawal “is the first modern, unique step from a religious leader to put religion away from politics,” said Saad Saloom, a professor of political science at Al Mustansiriya University here. “He gave more space for new political leaders to step up and prove that they are qualified.” Professor Saloom added that while some of Mr. Sadr’s followers may now vote for Mr. Maliki’s party, “in general it is not good for the Shiite alliance” for the charismatic Mr. Sadr to leave the arena.
Mahmood Othman, a Kurdish leader and member of Parliament, wondered about Mr. Sadr’s timing. “His withdrawal will affect the elections a lot, because he is one of the main players in the political process,” he said, adding that Mr. Sadr “seemed desperate and disappointed in the whole political process.”
Some of his supporters seemed to feel the same way on Tuesday. “Now we understand him more, he can’t work among thieves and criminals,” said Falih al-Timimi of Najaf, who said he backed Mr. Sadr’s party in past elections. “Who will I vote for this time? It’s confusing.”
The violence and bloodshed that have increasingly plagued Iraq in recent months continued to rage on Tuesday. Six car bombings in Baghdad and Hilla, all attributed to Qaeda militants, claimed at least 29 lives, security officials reported.
He insisted that religious differences were not driving Iraq’s violence: “What we are witnessing is not sectarian strife — it is indiscriminate slaughter. Al Qaeda kills Shiites. Al Qaeda kills Sunnis. And, on Christmas, the terrorists bombed Christian neighborhoods in Baghdad, murdering more than two dozen people on their holiest day. Because Al Qaeda believes in blowing people up, not in winning people over, it can be beaten, must be beaten, and will be beaten.”
Mr. Maliki said that his government was in discussions about resuming American training for its counterterrorism forces.
A version of this article appears in print on February 19, 2014, on page A9 of the New York edition with the headline: Iraqi Cleric, Exiting Politics, Urges Others to Keep Serving.
Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 45 at Checkpoint in Southern Iraq
By DURAID ADNANMARCH 9, 2014 .. bit ..
In an interview broadcast on Saturday, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of supporting terrorism in Iraq and Syria.
“I accuse them of inciting and encouraging the terrorist movements,” Mr. Maliki said in the interview with France 24 television. “I accuse them of supporting them politically and in the media, of supporting them with money and by buying weapons for them. I accuse them of leading an open war against the Iraqi government.”
Saudi Arabia and Qatar have provided support to groups fighting President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, but both deny backing Al Qaeda’s militants.
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