The struggle for the leadership of Iraq's Shia is at the heart of Muqtada Al-Sadr's standoff with the US-led occupation forces. Omayma Abdel-Latif reports When Muqtada Al-Sadr, the young Shia leader, was asked this week by the Lebanese As-Safir daily about what he thought of the stand taken by the various Shia forces regarding the military confrontation between Al-Mehdi army -- his militia -- and the US-led occupation forces, he declined to answer. Instead, he described the various kinds of religious marjaiyyah (the highest ranking religious authority) which exist in today's Iraq. "There are three," he said. "That which consciously chooses not to implicate itself in the political situation and that which has allied itself with the Americans -- those I cannot describe as marjaiyyah. The third, however, maintains an honourable nationalist stand, but doesn't necessarily share our views." Al-Sadr's statement underlined what many observers believe are signs of tension between him and the various Iraqi Shia groups. Observers say that the tension reflects a struggle over who truly represents Iraq's Shia. The standoff with the occupation forces in Najaf and Karbala also sheds light on the complicated web of relations between what Al-Sadr claims to represent in Al-Hawza Al- Natiqa -- the vocal seminary -- and the traditional, quietist seminary of Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani. The failure of Iraq's different political forces -- particularly that of the Shia -- to impose a peaceful settlement has, in the view of some observers, exposed this ambivalence. As the fighting in Najaf and Karbala continued to claim more Iraqi lives and to bring life in the two holy cities to a standstill, Iraqi Shia figures speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly played down speculations of a possible schism within the Shia political spectrum. Some insisted that while all Iraqis agreed on "the endgame" -- the need to end the occupation of Iraq -- it was more the means towards achieving that goal that was the real cause of the rift. While Sheikh Akbar Al-Saadi, spokesperson of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), one of the country's prominent Shia groups, said that Al-Sadr and his supporters should participate in the current political process, he nonetheless believes that Al-Sadr should have acquired his political rights in a non-violent manner. "When Al-Sadr is asked what his endgame is, he says it is to end the occupation. But all Iraqis want to end the occupation, it is just a question of how to go about it," Al-Saadi told the Weekly from Baghdad in a telephone interview on Monday. Signs of a possible intra-Shia confrontation emerged this week when prominent Shia figures ordered an Al-Mehdi militia to leave the city of Najaf to prevent coming under attack by US occupation forces. Al-Sadr responded in a press statement, referring to what he described as "those who incite the Americans against the people of their own sect". He also issued a stern warning against Faylaque Badr (the Badr Brigade), the SCIRI's military wing which, according to some press accounts has been involved in fighting against Al-Mehdi militia, a charge which SCIRI officials deny. The SCIRI stand, Al-Saadi responded, is to work towards bringing stability back to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. "The Badr Brigade did not participate in any military activities against Al-Sadr's supporters simply because they refrain from being involved in any military activities against their fellow Iraqis." He explained that the Badr Brigade has transformed itself into a political organisation, but that some of its members have joined the ranks of the new Iraqi army. "It goes beyond reason that those elements within the Iraqi army would fight against an Al-Mehdi militia in Najaf. The cities are holy and the sect is one," Al-Saadi said. Observers argue that the struggle is not just over who will fill the political vacuum left once the US transfers power, but also over the question of which movement truly represents the will of Iraq's Shia. Two of Iraq's most prominent Shia movements were represented in the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) -- namely the SCIRI and Al-Dawaa Party -- which both enjoy grassroots support. The rise of Al-Sadr and the transformation of his group from a fringe to a mainstream movement has also led to the realignment of the political forces claiming to represent Iraq's Shia. Many within rival movements accuse the young leader, however, of lacking a clearly defined political programme. Al-Saadi, who was a member of the Shia team negotiating with the occupation forces, pointed out that an agreement was about to be reached to avert the military option. "Al-Sadr was willing to cooperate and accept a cease-fire but the occupation forces did not have the will to strike an agreement," he told the Weekly. When asked why the Shia movements did not make enough of an effort to mediate between Al- Sadr and the US-led occupation forces, Jawad Al- Maliki, a member of the Al-Dawaa party's politburo said that the fighting in Najaf has angered the majority of Iraqi Shia. "Everyone knows that the militia will not be able to expel the US-led army. So there is a dominant feeling in the Iraqi street of the futility of these battles," he added. He pointed out that the timing for the breakout of such battles could have negative repercussions, as the Iraqis await the 30 June transfer of power. "There is a general feeling among the majority of Iraqis -- not just the Shia -- that this confrontation was unnecessary, particularly when Al-Sadr's goals are not clear enough." Al-Sadr's supporters counter such arguments by saying that it was in fact the US-led occupation forces that systematically targeted Al-Sadr's headquarters and supporters across Iraq for many months. The fighting which broke out last Friday was only the culmination of such targeting. The confrontation reached its peak when the Coalition Provisional Authority decided to shut down Al- Hawza newspaper, the mouthpiece of Al-Sadr's movement, and issued a warrant to arrest him on the charge of conspiring to kill Abdel-Majid Al- Khoei, a Shia leader who returned to Iraq from exile last year. The fighting was briefly halted when mediating groups reached an agreement which was given the blessing of Al-Sistani. The negotiating parties stated that Al-Mehdi militia should transform itself into a political movement and that Al-Sadr would accept to be put on trial before an Iraqi court under an elected government next year. However, according to sources involved in the mediation efforts, the Americans have aborted any attempt for reconciliation. Al-Maliki agrees that it is the practices of the occupation forces which fuel the nationalist flames and therefore "provides a long line of recruits for Al-Sadr". "We have serious doubts that the occupation forces truly want a political settlement. They have aborted every effort aimed at reaching a settlement. They seem to believe that the military option is the only way to deal with any act of rebellion against them," he said. The fighting also shed light on the controversial relationship between Al-Sadr and the more traditional seminary of Al-Sistani. Al-Sistani broke his silence by issuing a statement in which he demanded that "all armed parties leave the city", a decision which was not received positively by Al- Sadr's followers. In his statement, Al-Sistani condemned "the way the occupation forces handled the standoff in Najaf" and urged that it should be resolved through "non-violent means to stop the bloodshed in the holy city". Murtada Al-Kashmiri, a spokesman for Al- Sistani, defended Al-Hawza against criticism, saying that it maintained a neutral stand and did not condemn the occupation's targeting of the city's holy shrines. "Sayed Al-Sistani has demanded that Najaf be evacuated of all armed militias. They don't approve of the city being turned into a battlefield," Al-Kashmiri told the Weekly on Monday. He pinned hopes on the mediation efforts to resolve the situation. Should the situation continue to deteriorate, however, Al-Kashmiri would not elaborate on whether or not Al-Sistani would change his stand. But he warned that if the occupation forces cross the line in Najaf, then, in what was nearing a threatening tone, he said that "the marjaiyyah might eventually be forced to change its quietist stand."
