I can't prevent civil war, warns Shia leader
Pastor Dale Morgan
I no longer have power to save Iraq from civil war, warns Shia leader*
By Gethin Chamberlain and Aqeel Hussein in Baghdad
(Filed: 03/09/2006)
The most influential moderate Shia leader in Iraq has abandoned attempts
to restrain his followers, admitting that there is nothing he can do to
prevent the country sliding towards civil war.
Aides say Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is angry and disappointed that
Shias are ignoring his calls for calm and are switching their allegiance
in their thousands to more militant groups which promise protection from
Sunni violence and revenge for attacks.
"I will not be a political leader any more," he told aides. "I am only
happy to receive questions about religious matters."
It is a devastating blow to the remaining hopes for a peaceful solution
in Iraq and spells trouble for British forces, who are based in and
around the Shia stronghold of Basra.
The cleric is regarded as the most important Shia religious leader in
Iraq and has been a moderating influence since the invasion of 2003. He
ended the fighting in Najaf between Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi army and
American forces in 2004 and was instrumental in persuading the Shia
factions to fight the 2005 elections under the single banner of the
United Alliance.
However, the extent to which he has become marginalised was demonstrated
last week when fighting broke out in Diwaniya between Iraqi soldiers and
al-Sadr's Mehdi army. With dozens dead, al-Sistani's appeals for calm
were ignored. Instead, the provincial governor had to travel to Najaf to
see al-Sadr, who ended the fighting with one telephone call.
Al-Sistani's aides say that he has chosen to stay silent rather than
suffer the ignominy of being ignored. Ali al-Jaberi, a spokesman for the
cleric in Khadamiyah, said that he was furious that his followers had
turned away from him and ignored his calls for moderation.
Asked whether Ayatollah al-Sistani could prevent a civil war, Mr
al-Jaberi replied: "Honestly, I think not. He is very angry, very
disappointed."
He said a series of snubs had contributed to Ayatollah al-Sistani's
decision. "He asked the politicians to ask the Americans to make a
timetable for leaving but they disappointed him," he said. "After the
war, the politicians were visiting him every month. If they wanted to do
something, they visited him. But no one has visited him for two or three
months. He is very angry that this is happening now. He sees this as
very bad."
A report from the Pentagon on Friday said that the core conflict in Iraq
had changed from a battle against insurgents to an increasingly bloody
fight between Shia and Sunni Muslims, creating conditions that could
lead to civil war. It noted that attacks rose by 24 per cent to 792 per
week – the highest of the war – and daily Iraqi casualties soared by 51
per cent to almost 120, prompting some ordinary Iraqis to look to
illegal militias for their safety and sometimes for social needs and
welfare.
A Moqtada Al Sadr supporter
An Iraqi Shi'ite supporter of cleric Moqtada Al Sadr celebrates near a
burning US Army truck
Hundreds of thousands of people have turned away from al-Sistani to the
far more aggressive al-Sadr. Sabah Ali, 22, an engineering student at
Baghdad University, said that he had switched allegiance after the
murder of his brother by Sunni gunmen. "I went to Sistani asking for
revenge for my brother," he said. "They said go to the police, they
couldn't do anything.
"But even if the police arrest them, they will release them for money,
because the police are bad people. So I went to the al-Sadr office. I
told them about the terrorists' family. They said, 'Don't worry, we'll
get revenge for your brother'. Two days later, Sadr's people had killed
nine of the terrorists, so I felt I had revenge for my brother. I
believe Sadr is the only one protecting the Shia against the terrorists."
According to al-Sadr's aides, he owes his success to keeping in touch
with the people. "He meets his representatives every week or every day.
Sistani only meets his representatives every month," said his spokesman,
Sheik Hussein al-Aboudi.
"Muqtada al-Sadr asks them what the situation is on the street, are
there any fights against the Shia, he is asking all the time. So the
people become close to al-Sadr because he is closer to them than
Sistani. Sistani is the ayatollah, he is very expert in Islam, but not
as a politician."
Even the Iraqi army seems to have accepted that things have changed.
First Lieut Jaffar al-Mayahi, an Iraqi National Guard officer, said many
soldiers accepted that al-Sadr's Mehdi army was protecting Shias. "When
they go to checkpoints and their vehicles are searched, they say they
are Mehdi army and they are allowed through. But if we stop Sistani's
people we sometimes arrest them and take away their weapons."
Western diplomats fear that the vacuum will be filled by the more
radical Shia clerics, hastening the break-up of the country and an
increase in sectarian violence.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Britain's former special representative for Iraq,
said the decline in Ayatollah al-Sistani's influence was bad news for Iraq.
"It would be a pity if his strong instincts to maintain the unity of
Iraq and to forswear violence were removed from influencing the scene,"
he said.