Muqtada al-Sadr flees to Iran

BAGHDAD – Muqtada al-Sadr’s supporters denied yesterday that the radical Shi’ite cleric had fled to Iran ahead of a security crackdown in Baghdad.

An Iraqi government official said al-Sadr was in the Shi’ite holy city of Najaf Tuesday night, when he received delegates from several government departments. The official, who is familiar with one of those meetings, spoke on condition of anonymity because he has no authority to disclose information on his department’s activities.The denials came after a US official said al-Sadr left his Baghdad stronghold some weeks ago and is believed to be in Tehran, where he has family.The official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss US monitoring activities, said fractures in al-Sadr’s political and militia operations may be part of the reason for his departure.The move is not believed to be permanent, the official said.Lawmaker Nassar al-Rubaie, the head of Sadrist bloc in parliament, also insisted al-Sadr had not left the country.”The news is not accurate because Muqtada al-Sadr is still in Iraq and he did not visit any country,” al-Rubaie told The Associated Press.A close aide who meets regularly with al-Sadr said the cleric was not in Tehran, said the report probably stemmed from a campaign by al-Sadr’s people to put out false information about his movements amid fears he will be detained by US-led forces.The cleric also is sleeping in different places each night, the aide said.An official in al-Sadr’s main office in Najaf also said the cleric had decided not to appear publicly during the current month of Muharam, one of four holy months in the Islamic calendar.”The leader Muqtada al-Sadr is inside Iraq now,” he said.Both officials also declined to be identified because they weren’t authorised to disclose the information.The black turbaned cleric rarely appears in public or announces his movements and his Mahdi Army militia has mostly been keeping a low profile ahead of the security sweep.Al-Sadr was reportedly going to make a speech on Monday in Najaf to mark the anniversary of the bombing of an important Shiite shrine north of Baghdad, but he did not do so.The anniversary fell on Monday, according to the Islamic lunar calendar.While the Mahdi Army has its stronghold in the Shi’ite district of Sadr City in Baghdad, al-Sadr has his headquarters in Najaf, 160 kilometres south of Baghdad.A spokesman for the Sadrist bloc said the assertion that al-Sadr had fled was part of a “psychological war” by US-led forces to try to prod the cleric into the open.Nampa-APThe official, who is familiar with one of those meetings, spoke on condition of anonymity because he has no authority to disclose information on his department’s activities.The denials came after a US official said al-Sadr left his Baghdad stronghold some weeks ago and is believed to be in Tehran, where he has family.The official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss US monitoring activities, said fractures in al-Sadr’s political and militia operations may be part of the reason for his departure.The move is not believed to be permanent, the official said.Lawmaker Nassar al-Rubaie, the head of Sadrist bloc in parliament, also insisted al-Sadr had not left the country.”The news is not accurate because Muqtada al-Sadr is still in Iraq and he did not visit any country,” al-Rubaie told The Associated Press.A close aide who meets regularly with al-Sadr said the cleric was not in Tehran, said the report probably stemmed from a campaign by al-Sadr’s people to put out false information about his movements amid fears he will be detained by US-led forces.The cleric also is sleeping in different places each night, the aide said.An official in al-Sadr’s main office in Najaf also said the cleric had decided not to appear publicly during the current month of Muharam, one of four holy months in the Islamic calendar.”The leader Muqtada al-Sadr is inside Iraq now,” he said.Both officials also declined to be identified because they weren’t authorised to disclose the information.The black turbaned cleric rarely appears in public or announces his movements and his Mahdi Army militia has mostly been keeping a low profile ahead of the security sweep.Al-Sadr was reportedly going to make a speech on Monday in Najaf to mark the anniversary of the bombing of an important Shiite shrine north of Baghdad, but he did not do so.The anniversary fell on Monday, according to the Islamic lunar calendar.While the Mahdi Army has its stronghold in the Shi’ite district of Sadr City in Baghdad, al-Sadr has his headquarters in Najaf, 160 kilometres south of Baghdad.A spokesman for the Sadrist bloc said the assertion that al-Sadr had fled was part of a “psychological war” by US-led forces to try to prod the cleric into the open.Nampa-AP