Word: najaf
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...down with al-Sadr's representatives, one of them coolly demanded, "Is this cease-fire because you are strong or weak?" Al-Sadr's men evidently thought they knew the answer as they presented him with a list of demands, starting with a complete withdrawal of coalition forces from Najaf and setting terms that would effectively leave Najaf's security in the hands of Shi'ite forces under clerical control. Iraqi officials insisted the militia had to be disbanded but offered to let the movement join the political process. Al-Sadr did not even bother to attend the talks...
Critics say al-Sadr had another motivation in putting himself forward: money. The millions of Shi'ite pilgrims who visit the shrine in Najaf are required to pay a tithe to the Hawza, the supreme Iraqi Shi'ite religious authority. The reigning Grand Ayatullah has the largest say in how the money is divided among Shi'ite groups. When al-Sadr's father held the post, he was able to keep his faction well supplied with cash, but his death substantially reduced the cut received by al-Sadr's family. The Grand Ayatullah Ali Husaini Sistani, who now holds...
...interim government last spring, when his demand for control of two ministries was rebuffed. After his newspaper was shut down in late March and the Coalition Provisional Authority revealed that a warrant had been issued for his arrest on murder charges, he sent his fighters into the streets of Najaf and Sadr City for two months. He eventually accepted a favorable truce in June that relegated U.S. forces to bases outside the city and did nothing to rid the place of anti-American rebels. U.S. military commanders complained that the political deal simply gave him breathing room to rebuild...
...into the political process. The Bush Administration regards him as a thug and refuses to engage with someone it sees as a carbon copy of Iran's ruling mullahs. Nor do Western officials in Baghdad trust his tactics. "We've been watching him take over the city of Najaf bit by bit by bit," says an official. "That experience has given us cause to question his credibility when he makes promises and to wonder whether he is prepared to play in a political process marked by votes...
...criticizing the new leadership's failure to improve civil services and security. But some who know al-Sadr say his decision to resume combat had little to do with citizens' grievances and a lot to do with the improving ability of Iraqi government forces to challenge his control in Najaf. Since the hand-off, the strength of the Iraqi National Guard and Iraqi police officers has grown; they are stopping thieves, arresting drug dealers, slowly winning the loyalty of Najaf's embattled citizens...