Word: alis
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...thronging the mosque in Kufa last Friday, the U.S. may be underestimating the rebel leader. In fact, the more the U.S. aims its guns at al-Sadr, the more popular he seems to become. According to a recent poll, he is now second in popularity to the Grand Ayatullah Ali Husaini Sistani, the Shi'ites' spiritual leader...
...Mahdi Army's tactics are simple but effective. Hajji Ali, 38, is a former history teacher from Sadr City, al-Sadr's stronghold in Baghdad. He commands a small group of fighters in Najaf and explains how they operate. "I came with 10 men, and the commanders here gave me a part of the city to defend," he says. "When the Americans advance, we harass and retreat, fire from new positions and then retreat again. If the attacking force is too big, we call for support." In the past month, three in his unit have been killed and five injured...
...volunteer guerrillas like Ali come from all backgrounds: traders, butchers, farmers, students and a great many unemployed. Most are ready to die for al-Sadr because they say he is the only one who dares to stand up for Islam against the Americans. Al-Sadr's revered father, an uncle and two brothers were murdered by Saddam's regime. But in the past few months, al-Sadr has developed his own voice as the champion of millions of poor Shi'ites who feel dispossessed and disillusioned a year into the occupation. Since the U.S. came, says Ali, the people have...
...short distance, in the calm of the city's central Imam Ali shrine, a senior al-Sadr aide discusses the prospects for peace with the U.S. "I frankly doubt we can come to an agreement," says Sheik Faad al-Turfi. "They came here as occupiers. They kill Iraqis, rape our women and steal our riches." With an air of exhaustion, he also dismisses the claims of al-Sadr's Shi'ite critics, like Sheik Bhafer al-Qaisi, a representative of Ayatullah Sistani's who told TIME last week that al-Sadr was purposely trying to provoke an attack...
...with the men he thinks of as terrorists and is now turning security over to local militias. Politically, we have tossed the ball to Lakhdar Brahimi and the U.N. But even Brahimi doesn't have much stroke. The real governing authority in Iraq appears to be the Grand Ayatullah Ali Husaini Sistani, who dictated the al-Sadr solution last week, and in effect vetoed the interim constitution the U.S. proposed and will, no doubt, have final say over Brahimi's new government. The President pretends that none of this is happening. Most Americans sense the President is just pretending...