IRAQ: The dissident cleric has ended his battle with the US at the height of his popularity, writes Michael Jansen
Muqtada al-Sadr opted to withdraw his militiamen from the Shia holy city of Najaf while he and they were riding high in popularity with Iraqis. Although he almost certainly did not know the results of the latest opinion poll taken by the US occupation administration, he was given a 67 per cent approval rating and came second only to the most senior Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who received 70 per cent.
He is revered and admired by most Shias, as well as many other Iraqis, for his moral courage and moderation. Mr Sadr, a cleric holding the rank of hajatolislam, which is equivalent to that of a bishop, has become the symbol of the Iraqi resistance.
Neither Sistani nor Sadr did well when Iraqis were asked who they would like to see as president: they came below the ousted leader, Saddam Hussein.
In the popularity stakes, Mr Sadr also came far higher than the Prime Minister, Mr Ayad Alawi, who secured only 23 per cent. This may explain why the interim government prefers to court rather than confront Mr Sadr.
Envoys representing the government negotiated the ceasefires between his Mahdi militia and the US forces besieging Najaf and its sister city Kufa.
Members of the government were aware that a frontal assault by US troops on either city would infuriate and alienate the volatile Shias and destroy any Iraqi politician connected to Washington. Saving Mr Sadr was an act of self-preservation.
Mr Sadr's popularity rests on more than his readiness to challenge the US in words and deeds. His grandfather was Iraqi prime minister in 1932 and his father was the charismatic dissident cleric, Ayatollah Muhammad Sadek Sadr, who was assassinated in 1999 for opposition to the Baathist regime.
But he also used to end Friday prayers with the slogan, "No, no, no to America! No, no, no to Israel. No, no, no to imperialism!"
His son only had to echo these words to stir Iraq's deprived Shias.
While capitalising on his father's popularity, the young man set out to provide guidance and services to the poorest of Iraq's poor. His Mahdi army began as a charitable and welfare organisation before taking up arms. It did so only after the US administration shut down his newspaper for inciting revolt.
The slaughter of hundreds of his followers in clashes with US troops has raised his standing with Shias who revere and respect men who fight and die for a lost cause, like Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, slain at Kerbala battling the army of the Sunni Caliph Yazid.
In his speeches, Mr Sadr often refers to the US as "Yazid," designating the US as the arch-enemy.
After June 30th, the Iraqi interim government plans to deal with Mr Sadr, accused by the US of involvement in the murder of a pro-Washington cleric, Majid al-Khoei, in April 2003.
The government has said it will follow neither the example of the US military, which called for Mr Sadr to be "killed or captured", nor of the US chief administrator, Mr Paul Bremer, who barred Mr Sadr from participating in elections to a transitional assembly.
Mr Sadr, who is organising a political party, is not only likely to escape the US charges against him but will also be allowed to participate in the poll. To exclude him would make him all the more dangerous, as well as diminish the legitimacy of Iraq's postwar exercise in democracy.