Some Militiamen Break with Sadr to Defend Neighborhoods
By IraqSlogger.com, 07 March 2007.
Former elements of the Mahdi Army have begun to dissociate themselves from the leadership of Muqtada al-Sadr and take up arms to try to defend their Baghdad neighborhoods from attacks, Slogger sources report.
This development occurs in the context of continuing violent attacks against Iraqi Shi'a civilians on the part of militant Sunni groups, attacks which have not been prevented by the security plan, nor by the Mahdi Army, which had been the primary defender of large segments of the Shi'a community until Muqtada al-Sadr's order that the organization lay low during the security plan.
While many Sadr loyalists are remaining steadfast to Muqtada al-Sadr’s order to remain passive during the security plan, other former Mahdi Army activists are renouncing their connection to Sadr, some evey saying that they feel betrayed by his leadership into the hands of Sunni extremists, according to Slogger sources.
Slogger sources report such developments Wednesday in Hayy al-'Amil and Bayya’ areas of the city. On Tuesday, Slogger reported that an eyewitness had spotted armed Mahdi Army members traveling in the al-Risala area of the city.
The Mahdi Army are caught between two formidable armed foes: American forces, who conduct raids against Mahdi Army supporters in many parts of the capital and elsewhere in the country, and armed Sunni groups. They believe that the Americans will move against them forcefully if they come into plain view bearing arms, and that Sunni militant groups will continue conducting attacks against the defenseless Shi'a community if they do not take up their weapons to defend them.
In the absence of effective protection from the Iraqi state, large elements of the Shi'a community are also caught in this grip. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki may lose his popularity among the Shi'a if attacks against the Shi'a population continue unabated, one source said.
It should be noted that the Mahdi Army is not itself a tightly organized force. Some members are close and loyal Sadr associates, some are extremists with a record of killing Sunni civilians indiscriminately, and some are groups of Iraqi Shi'a who took up arms to protect their neighborhoods from outside attackers. The latter groups were often able to obtain support from the local Sadr offices, sometimes after they had elected to use the Mahdi Army name. According to Slogger sources, it is this latter type of member who is denouncing Sadr and returning to armed activity.
The sense of victimization and defenselessness is not monopolized by any one community in Iraq. While many Iraqi Shi'a civilians feel defenseless under the security plan, a large segment Iraqi Sunni civilians feels directly targeted by it. Several predominantly Sunni areas of Baghdad have been under heavy siege by American and Iraqi forces, especially the southern parts of the city in and around the Dora district, according to other Slogger sources.
Citation: "Ex-Mahdi Army Members Take up Arms," IraqSlogger.com, 07 March 2007.
Original URL: http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/1785