Word: muqtada
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...Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shi'ite leader, doesn't like to miss out on the action. As Iraq convulsed in sectarian violence last week, al-Sadr was stuck in Beirut, on the final leg of a grand tour of Middle Eastern capitals. He was being feted by heads of state across the region, a remarkable achievement for a politician-cleric who has neither been elected to any office nor completed his religious education. After hearing news of the destruction of the Shi'ite shrine in Samarra, al-Sadr cut his trip short to return to Iraq to marshal...
...with protecting Sunni mosques. For the more optimistic observers, those events seemed to confirm the notion that it is better to have al-Sadr inside the Iraqi political tent, trying to hold it up, than to leave him outside, threatening to put it to the torch. "This shows that Muqtada is a constructive force in politics," says Salah al-Obeidi, a senior al-Sadr aide. "This is the act of a responsible Iraqi leader...
...thought to be in his mid-30s. He is married and has children, although his aides won't disclose how many. He bears a name revered by Shi'ites all over the world: al-Sadr's father and uncle were influential and popular ayatullahs murdered by Saddam's regime. Muqtada was a virtual unknown in Iraq until the U.S. invasion, after which he began building his power base through often ruthless means: his supporters were blamed for the April 2003 assassination in Najaf of an influential pro-Western ayatullah. (The U.S. initially fingered al-Sadr for the murder, then quietly...
...April: Supporters of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stage an uprising against U.S. troops in several Iraqi cities...
...therefore the Bush Administration has hopes for two other possible leaders. One is Adil Abdul Mahdi, said to be among the more pragmatic religious Shi'ite leaders. And then there is Chalabi, who has built a formidable network of Shi'ite associates that includes the radical firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Of course, Chalabi has serious downsides as well-aside from the greasy residue on his resume. The Sunnis don't like him. He has been an advocate of the most extreme and injudicious de-Baathification proposals. When asked how Chalabi might bring the Sunnis back into the fold...