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Al-Sadr to hand over stronghold
20/08/2004 15:49 - (SA)
Kufa, Iraq - Rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday asked the Shiite religious authority to take control of Najaf's flash-point old city, where his Mahdi Army militiamen have been stationed, and he defended his uprising against coalition forces.
"My demand and request to the religious authority is that the Old City be under its supervision and not under the supervision of the Mahdi Army," al-Sadr said in a sermon read by an aide, Sheik Jaber al-Khafaji, in the Kufa Mosque, near Najaf.
In an apparent effort to avoid an offensive on Najaf's Imam Ali Shrine compound, where his militiamen have been holed up, al-Sadr has called on his followers to hand over the compound to the office of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, his aides said.
Al-Sadr's followers could continue to visit the shrine, said Ahmed al-Shaibany, an al-Sadr aide.
On Friday, interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi stepped back from his government's previous threats to send a crack force of Iraqi troops into the shrine to root out the militants.
In his sermon, al-Sadr urged Muslims to rise up if the shrine was attacked.
"I call on the Arab and Islamic people: If you see the dome of the holy Imam Ali Shrine shelled, don't be lax in resisting the occupier in your countries," he said. It was unclear if al-Sadr was calling for worldwide attacks on US forces - which he often refers to as Iraq's occupier.
Al-Sadr accused Allawi and "his followers" of trying to kill him. "If my blood will benefit the Iraqi people, then take it. God is with us," he said.
Al-Sadr's militants have been fighting with US and Iraqi forces for two weeks in clashes that have spilled over to other Shiite communities in Iraq.
The violence in Najaf has claimed many civilian lives, prompting residents to flee and religious pilgrims to stay away, choking the city's economy.
"Our uprising is to get back the wealth of Iraq. This is what we want and demand," al-Sadr said in his sermon. He denied that the fighting has hurt the Iraqi people.
Al-Sadr said he found no fault with his followers taking shelter in the Imam Ali shrine compound despite criticism from some that he has subjected one of the most revered Shiite sites to violence.
"Those who take refuge in the shrine compound are guilty and those who are shelling it are honourable?" he asked rhetorically in the sermon. US forces have said they have been careful to avoid damaging the shrine compound, though it has suffered minor damage.
Al-Sadr also called on Iraqi security forces not to help coalition troops.
"Oh my brothers in the police and the army, you are safe as long as you avoid co-operating with the occupier, whether we win or lose," he said.
In Baghdad's Shiite Kazimiya mosque, Sheik Raed al-Asadi denounced the US presence in Najaf, threatening revenge.
"We will create another doomsday for the occupiers and the government they have installed," he said.
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