Supporters of Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric, burnt an effigy of George Bush in Baghdad yesterday and gave warning of a return to armed resistance if parliament approves a deal that will allow US forces to remain in Iraq for three more years.

“No, no to the agreement of humiliation,” the followers chanted at a demonstration against the pact in a square in Baghdad where US Marines toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein after the March 2003 invasion.

At one point the effigy of the outgoing US President, dressed in a black suit and carrying a suitcase labelled “security agreement”, was hoisted up a parapet where the Saddam statue once stood in Firdous Square.

After a special session of Friday prayers, members of the crowd swarmed over to the effigy and pelted it with shoes, boots and bottles of water, knocking the scarecrow-like figure off its post. Then they tore the dummy apart and set it alight.

“Just like Saddam’s statue was brought down, Mr Bush has fallen as well,” said a man who was helping to erect the effigy and gave his name as Abu Moqtada. He was among thousands of Shia Muslim men and a tiny handful of women who heeded their leader’s call to take part in the protest against the status of forces agreement between Baghdad and Washington.

Iraqi MPs have been locked in an often rancorous row over the accord, which requires US troops to leave towns and cities by the middle of next year and to leave Iraq by the end of 2011. It was approved by the Cabinet last Sunday.

Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister, defends the deal as a long-desired withdrawal timetable for the 150,000-strong US force.

Opponents, such as the 30 MPs loyal to Hojatoleslam al-Sadr, argue that it merely extends the occupation beyond a United Nations’ mandate that expires at the end of the year.

At al-Sadr’s rally, large banners hanging from blast walls around the square spelt out the demands of the protesters. “One Iraq, one people, no agreement”, read one.

Waving Iraqi flags and others in the green of Shia Islam, the demonstrators flocked to hear speeches and prayers from a representative of Hojatoleslam al-Sadr.

The Shia cleric is rarely seen in public and is thought to be in Iran. “No, no America!”, “Yes, yes Moqtada!” the men chanted at regular intervals, jumping up from prayer mats, which were laid in the street, and pumping their fists in emphasis. In a reminder of the US presence, two Blackhawk helicopters flew overhead.

The prayers and demonstration passed peacefully but there is a threat of hostile action if the security pact passes and US troops remain.

Speaking on behalf of the cleric, Sheikh Abel-Hadi al-Mohammedawi said: “If they do not get out then I and those with me are ready to drive them out in the method that we see fit.”

The cleric, who commands al-Mahdi Army, the largest Shia militia in Iraq, has led a number of uprisings against US forces and the Iraqi Government since the invasion. His men were dealt a heavy blow last April, however, when Iraqi forces drove them out of Basra, in the south.

Many al-Mahdi Army fighters left Iraq for neighbouring Iran and Syria to lie low as other havens, such as Sadr City in Baghdad, also came under Government control.

Hojatoleslam al-Sadr has since announced that the militia will adopt a more social-service role, while keeping a fighting element in case the need arises.

That time could be drawing near. One al-Mahdi Army veteran, recently returned from Syria to Sadr City, said that the Shia cleric had invited him and other fighters to return to be part of the unit. “The Sadr movement is still working on political means and demonstrations but if that does not stop the Government we will choose the military solution,” he said.

“We will fight the Americans, no one else,” said the man, adding that the new brigade would be stronger and more organised than the normal al-Mahdi Army. The young men addressed at the demonstration appeared determined to resort to arms if political and civil protests fail.

The Sadrist power

— The Sadrist movement was launched by Sadiq al-Sadr, who was assassinated by Saddam Hussein in 1999. It was revived by his son Moqtada al-Sadr in 2003
— The movement’s supporters are poor Shia Muslims, Iraq’s largest religious faction
— It has violently opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq
— Its armed faction, al-Mahdi Army, has a force of about 60,000 militiamen who fought against American and British troops
— They controlled large parts of Baghdad and Basra until their defeat earlier this year by US and Iraqi forces

Source: Times archive

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