Iraqi top aide confirms al-Sadr in Iran but denies he fled arrest
16 February 2007
(edit: there are so many different stories running about now i have to take a guess. That of all the noise we are hearing i suspect the one that is likely correct is that Sadr and a significant number of the Mehdi have been moving into Iran for weeks. The statement from Iraqi President Talabani saying Sadr has just left temporarily and that Sadr told him it was to HELP the americans get the "outlaws" and that,Sadr, doesn't want to get in the U.S. way in this SURGE that he does, however, support, is---well is utter BS coming from Talabani . Trying to make like Sadr and others have vanished as a favor for U.S is bizarrely preposterous Sadr and Mahdi know they are a PRIORTY Target for U.S. to destroy.--max
By Qassim Abdul-Zahra, Baghdad
An adviser to Iraq’s prime minister yesterday conceded that radical Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is in Iran, but denied he fled due to fear of arrest during an escalating security crackdown.
Sami al-Askari said Mr al-Sadr travelled to Iran by land “a few days ago”, but gave no further details on how long he would stay. A member of Mr al-Sadr’s bloc in parliament, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals, said he left three weeks ago.
“I confirm that Muqtada al-Sadr is in Iran on a visit,” said Mr al-Askari. “But I deny his visit is a flight.”
Another lawmaker loyal to Mr al-Sadr, Saleh al-Ukaili, insisted Mr al-Sadr is in Iraq and claimed the accounts of his departure were part of a “campaign by the US military” to track down the elusive cleric.
US and Iraqi forces have increased pressure on backers of the anti-American cleric and other militants in a major security operation that began in force this week. Conflicting reports on Mr al-Sadr’s whereabouts have been exchanged for days.
In Iran, there was no word from the government or media on his whereabouts. The brother of the cleric regarded as Mr al-Sadr’s spiritual mentor, Grand Ayatollah Kazem al-Hosseini al-Haeri, said he did not know if the Iraqi leader had crossed the border.
“We have had no contact with him for a long time,” said Mohammad Hossein Haeri, speaking on the phone from the Iranian holy city of Qom. There has reportedly been friction between Mr al-Haeri and Mr al-Sadr in recent years.
The chief US military spokesman, Major General William Caldwell, said Mr al-Sadr “is not in the country” and that “all indications are, in fact, that he is in Iran”. Maj Gen Caldwell said US authorities have been tracking Mr al-Sadr’s movements for months. He would not speculate on whether Mr al-Sadr fled to escape the crackdown.
Mr Al-Sadr’s militia is widely believed to receive Iranian money and weapons, but his relations with Tehran are not as close as are those of some Kurdish and Shi’ite parties allied with the Americans.( this is PRESUMPTION by many that has NEVER been proven. This the key; Ahmadinejad and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard quite likely most favor Sadr and the Dawa: Rasanjani would favor the SCIRI.--- It must be remembered Sadr's father The Grand Ayatollah Sadr was a Khomeinist and he was assassinated by Hussein in 1999, this os why Muqtada al Sadr wanted the noose that hanged Hussein, Hussein had killed Muqtada and two of his brothers, no one hated Saddm Hussein more than Muqtada al Sadr: PEOPLE FORGET MUQTADA HATRED OF HUSSEIN WAS UNDERSTANDLY DEEP they forget how PERSONAL this was for Sadr and why Sadr will NEVER make peace with any person that is a Saddamist--- The Grand Sistani, that controls the SCIRI was oppositional to Khomeini, as he believed clerics should hold no political position, is a Quietist. This is something i believe Juan Cole has yet to understand, and that is the most militant anti-american Iranians, those of the NEVER SURRENDER school are much more compatible with Sadr. Cole keeps this view that Sadr , because he is NOT SCIRI, is not vital to Iran because he himself i think is allowing his OWN personal dislike of Sadr to color his view. I repeat there is NO room here to play favorites. We watch history, we are not history. i have respectfully disagreed with him on this for sometime. So where is Sadr now?? Why do all obsess now as to where he is?? Why? Because he is Sadr and he is up to something. And one can be assured it is NOT being done as a favor to the U.S.--max
Aides said he had secretly visited Iran at least once since 2003 in addition to a public visit last year.
It was not immediately clear whether Mr al-Sadr’s absence will lead to divisions among his loyalists, which include the Mahdi Army militia that has close ties to Iran. A splintering of his forces could lead to the emergence of smaller gangs vying for power among Iraq’s Shiite majority.
But the mercurial Mr al-Sadr, who is not believed to have visited Baghdad in more than two years, often drops out of public view for weeks and has not been seen in public since January 3.
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