Posted on 01/06/2011 9:58:17 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
Lawmakers across Iraq's political and ethnic spectrums waited Thursday for word from anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, saying his first address after returning from nearly four years of self-imposed exile in Iran would likely say a lot about his intended approach to Iraq's fragile new government.
Late Thursday, a spokesman at Sadr's office in Najaf said the cleric would deliver "a very important speech" Saturday at his home outside the Shiite holy city.
After months of shifting political alliances finally produced a new government late last year, most Iraqis are still gingerly feeling their way forward. Some voiced cautious optimism that Sadr would seek to bolster the fledgling government - even Sunnis who had battled the cleric's Mahdi Army militia and later charged that the Sadrist-controlled Health Ministry had murdered Sunni doctors.
But most groups were hesitant to say more, and that palpable sense of apprehension - coupled with a national military holiday that shut down the government and emptied the streets - produced the effect of an entire country pausing to weigh the impact of the cleric's surprise reappearance Wednesday.
The mood also stood in stark contrast to the growing confidence displayed by Iraqi politicians in the two weeks since the creation of a unity government unleashed a flurry of political activity.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
One has to ask — will it be an arabic version of “cut down the tall trees?”
Who gives a sh*t what he says, except the WaPost? The reason he was in Iran for 4 years is because al-Maliki sent the 1st Iraqi Division to crush his mahdi army.
Who will rid me of this turbulent mullah?
I doubt it. He wants to live and work within the system. He doesn’t want to be martyred himself. He ran away to Iran when the Iraqis were stomping his Mahdi army.
vaudine
Rumor has it that he has risen to the rank of ayatollah and that will be announced soon.
That puts him in charge of all the Shias in Iraq.
I wonder what Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is going to think about that.
I remember this fat f***er from the early days of the Iraq war, when the liberal media would play up this little, pudgy thug as though he was a real “threat.” This little fat-face basically has only a lame militia full of unprofessional fighters who are poorly equipped and like to cause trouble from time to time. I still say it was a tactical error not to eliminate this little punk back in the early days of the Iraq war.
Dittos. Twice over.
Given that the mullahs seem to be the source code for jihadis, Mooky should be numero uno on the hit parade.
There is big money to be made off the shiite pilgrims to Najaf and other holy cities in Iraq.
Being an ayatollah gives him the power to grant (paying) access to the visiting Iranians.
An ayatollah also makes big money settling disputes, etc.
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