One hundred thousand Shi'ites protest Iraq charter
26 Aug 2005 15:02:55 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Michael Georgy

BAGHDAD, Aug 26 (Reuters) - A hundred thousand Iraqis across the country
marched on Friday in support of a maverick Shi'ite cleric opposed to a
draft constitution that U.S.-backed government leaders say will deliver
a
brighter future.

The protest could reinforce the opposition of Sunni Arabs who dominate
the
insurgency and are bitterly against the draft.

Supporters of young Shi'ite firebrand Moqtada al-Sadr, who has staged
two
uprisings against U.S. troops, also protested against poor services
during
their marches, stepping up the pressure on the government.

A hundred thousand Sadr supporters marched in eight cities, including
30,000 people who gathered for a sermon delivered on his behalf in a
Baghdad slum district.

They hardly noticed a huge government poster which read "One Nation, One
People, One Constitution", instead seeking guidance from Sadr who
inspires
fierce devotion in his followers.

Sadr returned to centre stage this week after his fighters fought a
rival
Shi'ite militia, the Badr organisation, raising fears of a new front in
Iraq's relentless cycle of violence.

He is stirring hopes among his vast following at a time when Iraq's
divided politicians have missed a series of deadlines for reaching a
consensus on the constitution, which is expected to be put to a
referendum
in October.

Sadr has also come out in support of Sunni opposition to the federal
state
that his Shi'ite rivals in government, with their Kurdish allies, have
outlined in the charter.

"Bush and America out," yelled cleric Abdel-Zahra al-Suwaidid, reading a
statement on Sadr's behalf in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City which is
named
after his revered father, a cleric allegedly killed by Saddam Hussein's
agents.

Another widespread complaint was written simply on banners: "We want
water, we want electricity."

The young cleric has gained followers by portraying himself as a
champion
of the poor. Sadr's cult-like popularity means he can quickly mobilise
his
fighters if a full-scale conflict with the Badr movement breaks out.

CULT VERSUS CONSTITUTION

Young boys wore T-shirts with images of Sadr and his father as others
played a song on a scratchy cassette which repeated "Oh Moqtada, Oh
Moqtada" over and over.

"I like Sayyid Moqtada," said eight-year-old Montadhir Taei, using
Sadr's
religious title.

It was clear his elders have been influencing him: "Iraqis should write
the constitution, not the Americans," he said.

The image of Sadr, a burly figure with a turban, was pasted on a water
tank carried by a teenager spraying cool water at the crowd of tens of
thousands under a cruel sun in Baghdad.

Sadr, who has denied U.S. and Iraqi government accusations he ordered
the
killing of a rival cleric, assumed a low profile after a U.S. offensive
against his forces last year in Najaf.

Now he faces the Iranian-trained Badr movement, which some Iraqis accuse
of operating in hit squads alongside government forces. Badr officials
and
the government deny the accusations.

Sadr's supporters say Badr militiamen attacked his office in Najaf on
Wednesday, and clashes then erupted in several cities. A Badr official
denied any involvement. Eight people were killed, health officials said.

"These people just want power and money. You go ask the Interior
Ministry
who did this," said Hussein Saleh, referring to the Badr movement.

The fighting between the two groups across several cities raised the
spectre of a new security crisis in Iraq, already ravaged by a Sunni
Arab
insurgency that has killed thousands of Iraqi police and soldiers,
civilians and U.S. troops.

At the Baghdad protest, fighters in Sadr's Mehdi Army stood alert on
rooftops with assault rifles as speakers condemned the United States.

Some of Sadr's authority comes from credentials of his slain father,
Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr.

"We don't need a constitution because Mohammed al-Sadr's writing is our
constitution," said Mohammed Ubeidi, 26, sitting below a wall-clock
dominated by pictures of Moqtada and his father.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26663687.htm