US act sacrilegious to Shi'ites
The downing of the Iraqi Shi'ite sacred banner by an American chopper last week drove the three million Shi'ites in Sadr City to the edge of their tolerance of US occupation.
The unrest that broke out in the Sadr City of Baghdad, after an American helicopter downed the Iraqi Shi'ite sacred banner flying from a telecommunications tower, left one Iraqi boy dead as American troops returned fire from local Shi'ites. It is unknown whether the downing of the banner was accidental or intentional. However, an American apology quickly followed, defusing an imminent crisis that could have swayed large numbers of Shi'ites in Sadr City to reverse their neutrality in the fight against the coalition forces.
Shi'ites who were persecuted in the thousands by the former regime have welcomed the fall of Saddam at the hands of the coalition forces. They have largely adopted a wait and see attitude towards the foreign forces, who face an average of 15 attacks each day in Baghdad and in the north and west of the city in what has become known as the "Sunni triangle". The Chief United States Administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer has accused remnants of the former Ba'thist regime, Ansar Al-Islam and foreign fighters as responsible for these attacks. The sacred banner incident has, in any case, certainly made the predominantly- Shi'ite areas of the city more volatile.
Around twenty thousand angry worshipers gathered for an open-air noon prayer service last Friday. Under the blazing sun they were chanting "no to America, yes yes to Islam". Many eyewitness accounts spoke of scores of men with belts of explosives around their waists and others carrying weapons. They were waiting for a call for jihad that never came. Sheikh Abdul Hadi al Daraji, the Imam of Al-Mohssen Mosque, the largest in the area, urged congregants to resist occupation but stopped short of a call to arms.
"What happened here a few days ago shows that America and the Jews have declared war against Islam," Daraji said. "We tell you and the whole world and America that the sons of Iraq will retaliate twice as hard against anyone who attacks us or our sacred symbols."
In the neighbouring Al-Shaab, another poor Shi'ite area, Diyaa Al-Gharabawi, the Imam of Al-Shuroufi Mosque was counselling patience during the same Friday sermon. He called on the American troops to show respect for Shi'ite beliefs.
"We respect the American people and we do not accept that a church is hit or a cross is broken, similarly we do not accept that a minaret is attacked or a sacred banner is downed," Al-Gharabawi said. The difference in tone and message between the two clerics underscores Shi'ite politics at play.
The worshippers who attended Daraji's sermon were followers of Moqtada Al-Sadr, a fiery 30-year-old cleric and the son of Ayatollah Mohamed Sadeq Al-Sader, who was killed by the former regime in 1999. The young Sadr is capitalising on his father's near saintly status, accorded to him by millions of followers. He has repeatedly denounced the occupation and the US backed Interim Governing Council (IGC), of which he was left out, and is vying for a leading political role in post-Saddam Iraq. American blunders such as the banner incident are quickly capitalised on to incite and inflame grass-roots sentiment largely in Sadr City, but as far south as Kofa.
Sheikh Al-Gharabawi, the imam of Al-Shuroufi Mosque receives guidance from Al-Hawza Al-Sharifa, represented by Ayatollah Ali Al-Husseini Al-Sisstani, the most senior religious leader in Iraq, and other senior Shi'ite clerics. Sisstani has so far refrained from supporting or attacking the IGC but has issued an edict calling for an elected body to draft the new Iraqi constitution. He has been widely consulted by the UN in the deliberations preceding the council's formation and since.
When asked about the military operations against coalition forces Al-Gharbaway gave the Shi'ite line closest to that of Ayatollah Al-Sisstani. "We as Shi'ites do not believe these operations are right at the present time," he said. "We believe in peaceful means, in political discussions until we reach a formula acceptable to all parties." He avoided describing the Americans troops as liberators or occupiers, opting for pragmatism. "We as Shi'ites understand that they have interests in the region, and we say take your interests and we also have to gain our interests."
Seen by the US as key to the stability of post war Iraq, Shi'ites were granted 13 seats in the IGC, with four of the 13 members representing religious parties. However, it is those excluded like young Sadr, who has called for the creation of an unarmed "The Messiah's army", that the US remains worried about.
