Word: clericalization
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...terrorist who worries Washington most is el-Shukrijumah, 29, chiefly because he is still at large but also because he is practically homegrown. Born in Guyana and reared in Miramar, Fla., where his father, a Saudi-Yemeni cleric now deceased, preached hard-line Wahhabism at a small mosque, el-Shukrijumah took computer classes at Broward Community College in Florida. He holds Guyanese and Trinidadian passports, may also have Canadian and Saudi passports and can easily pass for Hispanic. "He speaks English and has the ability to fit in and look innocuous," says an FBI agent. "He could certainly come back...
...eight days, the warnings of a decisive military showdown echoed across Najaf as fighting raged between U.S. forces and Shi'ite militiamen for control of the holy city. The Shi'ites' truculent leader, cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, vowed not to leave his bunker in the sect's sacred Imam Ali shrine "until the last drop of my blood has been spilled." The U.S. Marine colonel commanding American and Iraqi-government troops battling the stubborn gunmen of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army proclaimed his men were ready "to finish this fight that the Muqtada militia started." Iyad Allawi, the Prime Minister...
...holds the purse strings, is leery of giving much to al-Sadr. He is worried that al-Sadr will use the money to strengthen his militia and eventually take over as the next Grand Ayatullah. And Sistani's moderating influence was sorely missed last week: the senior Shi'ite cleric, 73, was in London to undergo angioplasty to open a blocked artery...
Nevertheless, Iraqi leaders in the interim government who are desperate for national reconciliation see the value of according a role to al-Sadr and his wide following. When the interim government regained sovereignty, Prime Minister Allawi opened talks with the cleric, even offering clemency for the murder charge against him. For weeks, Fa'oud Massoum, the chairman of the committee organizing the national conference to choose an interim legislature, tried to persuade al-Sadr to send representatives, but he has refused...
Making matters worse was the absence of Sistani, who left his home in Najaf two weeks ago for medical treatment in London. Al-Sadr supporters say the U.S. was exploiting his absence to crack down on the populist cleric. But Sistani's associates say al-Sadr was the one taking advantage of the ayatullah's departure to intensify his campaign against the U.S. Just before undergoing angioplasty, the Grand Ayatullah issued a strong statement calling on all parties to stop the fighting...