04.08.2008 - Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies

Report on Sadrist movement and Mahdi Army (Al-Sadr's politics, fighting for Basra and Sadr City, role of Mahdi Army, Iranian support of movement) ("Sadr and the Mahdi Army: Evolution, Capabilities, and a New Direction") [ID 25057]

Document(s): Open document

12.2007 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Continuous involvement of Mahdi Army units in violent attacks, despite freeze of activities of main Mahdi elements (" Addendum to UNHCR's Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Iraqi Asylum-Seekers") [ID 24272]

"Renewed involvement of Mehdi Army in fighting, in particular in Southern Iraq, has raised doubts over Al-Sadr’s intentions and/or his ability to control the more radical elements of his movement. According to the US Department of Defense (USDoD), the freeze of activities “will likely only apply to mainstream JAM elements, while specialized JAM units will probably continue violence aimed at Coalition forces and JAM rivals.” In October 2007, Al-Sadr said the freeze remained in force and may be renewed if considered beneficial.

While the US military had previously focused on fighting Sunni insurgent groups, in recent months it increased its efforts in combating rogue Mehdi Army elements (so-called “Special Groups”). It also started to tacitly work with moderate Mehdi Army elements to stabilize Baghdad neighborhoods. This has, reportedly, led to a reduction of sectarian killings in Baghdad. However, based on past experience, it is believed that Al-Sadr may be keeping his forces intact in anticipation of a US withdrawal from Iraq."

Document(s): Open document

27.01.2007 - Source: Guardian

Interview with the commander of a Shia death squad ("'If they pay we kill them anyway'") [ID 19550]

Document(s): Open document

26.01.2007 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Analysis of the recent crackdown on Muqtada al-Sadr's militia, the Imam al-Mahdi Army ("Iraq: Cracking Down On Al-Sadr No Easy Task") [ID 19551]

"On January 23, the U.S. military announced it had arrested more than 600 fighters from Muqtada al-Sadr's militia, the Imam al-Mahdi Army. Just four days earlier, Iraqi special forces backed by U.S. troops arrested senior al-Sadr aide Abd al-Hadi al-Darraji in Baghdad."

Document(s): Open document

23.01.2007 - Source: BBC News

Hundreds of Mahdi Army fighters and 16 leaders captured in crackdown, the US military says ("Sadr crackdown nets 600 fighters") [ID 19559]

Document(s): Open document

20.12.2006 - Source: Guardian

Shia militias linked to the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr pose the greatest threat to Iraq's stability, says Pentagon report ("Mahdi Army 'biggest threat' in Iraq") [ID 18194]

Document(s): Open document

05.11.2004 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Sadr formed group called National Front for the Liberation of Iraq ("original document") [ID 10675]

"AL-SADR ESTABLISHES NEW ORGANIZATION. Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has reportedly formed a grouping called the National Front for the Liberation of Iraq, Voice of the Mujahedin Radio reported on 3 November. The grouping was announced by al-Sadr spokesman Ali Sumaysim, who said that the front will comprise all forces and parties opposed to the occupation. It will also seek to form a national government that represents various political trends in Iraq. Sumaysim added that the front will work to encourage all al-Sadr supporters to vote for its candidates in the January election. He did not say whether the front will form alliances with other political parties ahead of the election. (Kathleen Ridolfo)"

Document(s): original document

29.10.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Baghdad / Sadr-City: House-to-house searches ("original document") [ID 10676]

"HOUSE-TO-HOUSE SEARCHES BEGIN IN AL-SADR CITY. The Iraqi Army announced on 24 October that house-to-house searches have begun in the Al-Sadr City neighborhood in Baghdad, Al-Arabiyah reported the same day. Some 20 U.S. military vehicles, four National Guard vehicles, and 20 police cars reportedly entered the area to begin the operation. Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih praised the government-initiated weapons buy-back program, telling a press conference broadcast on Al-Arabiyah on 23 October that some $5 million was paid out through the program. Salih said that more than 9,000 antitank mines, 2,000 antipersonnel mines, 200 heavy weapons, 2,000 Kalashnikov rifles, 1,000 rocket-propelled grenades, 2,000 rockets, 950 155-millimeter shells, 6,000 105-millimeter shells, and 575,000 bullets have been turned in. Salih said that a $365 million grant has been allocated to reconstruction projects in Al-Sadr City including electricity, telecommunications, water, sewage, and road-maintenance projects. Moreover, $50 million has been allocated to Al-Najaf for reconstruction and $25 million to Samarra following large-scale destruction after militants battled U.S.-backed Iraqi forces in those towns in recent months. (Kathleen Ridolfo)"

Document(s): original document

19.10.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

General amnesty to those surrendering their weapons ("original document") [ID 10677]

"(Al-Mada) - A source among the National Guardsmen of Sadr City said the government has decided to extend the deadline for the handover of weapons for another five days. Al-Shaab stadium will be the new centre for handing over weapons, and other new centres will be opened nationwide. The weapons must not be broken or damaged. The Iraqi government will next week issue a general amnesty to those surrendering their weapons, said Minister of Security Affairs Kasim Dawood. This step comes after the truce held with Muqtada al-Sadr to dissolve the Mahdi army.
(Al-Mada is issued daily by Al-Mada institution for Media, Culture, and Arts.)"

Document(s): original document

15.10.2004 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Sadr Citiy: Militiamen from Muqtada al-Sadr handing in weapons ("original document") [ID 10678]

"MILITIAMEN BEGIN HANDING IN WEAPONS. Militiamen loyal to Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr began handing in medium and heavy weapons on 11 October as part of a negotiated settlement to the standoff between U.S.-backed Iraqi forces and al-Sadr militiamen in the Al-Sadr City neighborhood named after the cleric's father, international media reported. Militiamen were given five days to hand in their weapons in exchange for cash.

Reuters reported that AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled-grenade launchers, or mortar rounds can bring $50 each. One fighter reportedly walked off with $14,500 after turning in a stash of grenade launchers and mortars. However, militiamen were reportedly slow to hand over their weapons on 11 October. News agencies reported a higher turnout on 12 October. "It's going to be busier today. I don't care where the weapons are coming from. It's less bullets on the street to kill my men," Al-Sadr City National Guard Commander Colonel Mehdi Zayer told AFP. (Kathleen Ridolfo)"

Document(s): original document

27.08.2004 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

GOALS OF AL-SADR MILITIA ("original document") [ID 10679]

"GOALS OF AL-SADR MILITIA. A weekly newspaper affiliated with radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr issued a report on 18 August that claimed the ongoing standoff in Al-Najaf is actually a rehearsal for a larger battle with U.S. forces, scheduled to take place in the days leading up to the November presidential election in the United States.

The report begins by claiming that the aim of multinational forces during the eight-week standoff in April was to gain time and establish calm before the U.S. elections. The newspaper claimed that the United States did so through reconstruction efforts in poor and damaged towns, which it referred to as "buying people's silence." "These methods abjectly failed in Al-Fallujah and Samarra and the slogan 'Cement for Silence' fell down with a resounding clatter," the report said. It also contended that the United States won the support of Iraqi officials, party leaders, and tribal chiefs by inflating those individuals' status within the community, or through bribery and financial deals.

It further claimed that the United States recruited Iraqi journalists to "polish its image" and vilify the militiamen. The report posited that the U.S. goal was to finish off the antioccupation forces through planned massacres that would take place following elections. The report claimed, "The election rules in the United States stipulate that millions of votes will go to the candidate that kills the largest number of Arabs and Muslims, and Orientals in general."

According to the report, Imam Al-Mahdi Army militiamen wanted to buy time "to come closer to the U.S. presidential election and then burn the ground under the feet of the invaders and their collaborators and force them to seriously think of leaving" Iraq. "What happened over the past few days [in Al-Najaf] has been just a small rehearsal for the upcoming battle, which will take place within the next three months," the newspaper said.

The report also addressed the achievements of al-Sadr militiamen in "liberating" (it conceded sometimes temporarily) Al-Fallujah, Samarra, Al-Nasiriyah, and Al-Amarah. "In the south, control over the cities...is passing from the hands of the occupiers to the hands of resistance." The report also praised the ability of the al-Sadr movement in "paralyzing and containing the constitutional project" by disrupting last week's Iraqi National Conference (see "RFE/RL Iraq Report," 20 August 2004). It also claimed to have created a schism between the occupation and its allies, noting the 16 August demand by the Shi'ite Political Council that multinational forces withdraw from Al-Najaf. "Will it be possible for this schism to widen?" it asks.

The report notes the achievements of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's government in providing jobs and aid to civilians, but claimed citizens are aware that they are hostages to the government.

The report concluded that the success of al-Sadr's movement in the coming phase will depend on the movement's ability to draw up a political framework for national liberation based on three points: ending the occupation, building a comprehensive Iraqi national political entity "by forming the independent national constituent council through national consensus," and "establishing a genuinely independent and unified democratic state." The movement hopes to achieve this by establishing alliances and blocs "among the nationalist forces that resist and oppose the occupation.""

Document(s): original document

20.08.2004 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Najaf : KIDNAPPINGS, THREATS, AND BEHEADINGS BY MILITIAMEN ("original document") [ID 10680]

"AL-NAJAF POLICE CHIEF DISCUSSES KIDNAPPINGS, THREATS, AND BEHEADINGS BY MILITIAMEN. Al-Najaf police chief Ghalib al-Jaza'iri has spoken out against the "barbaric" acts of militiamen loyal to al-Sadr, saying the militia has kidnapped, killed, and even beheaded some of his policemen, Reuters reported on 16 August. The militia is currently holding al-Jaza'iri's 80-year-old father hostage after kidnapping and dragging him through the streets of the city. The police chief's brothers were reportedly beaten unconscious. Al-Jaza'iri said that 40 of his policemen have been killed, several of them by beheading. He claimed that militiamen have gouged out the eyes of some of the officers and boiled them in hot water. "Do Iraqi police behead people?" al-Jaza'iri asked. "This is barbaric. They enter people's homes and they kill the relatives of policemen.""

Document(s): original document

22.07.2004 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Al-Najaf: AL-SADR MILITIA REGROUPING WITH HELP FROM IRAN ("original document") [ID 10681]

"DAILY REPORTS AL-SADR MILITIA REGROUPING WITH HELP FROM IRAN. The U.S.-based daily "Christian Science Monitor" (CSM) reported on 15 July that Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Al-Mahdi Army is regrouping in the holy city of Al-Najaf with help from Iranian intelligence agents. The militia has reportedly stored weapons in two so-called "exclusion zones," the vast Al-Najaf cemetery, and the Imam Ali Shrine. The "exclusion zones" are not patrolled by U.S. forces due to public sensitivity over both religious sites. Iraqi police rarely patrol the areas, the daily reported.

Some 80 agents are working with an estimated 500 Al-Mahdi militiamen, providing training and nine 57-millimeter Russian-made antiaircraft guns, in addition to stockpiles of antitank weapons, mortars, and other armaments, the daily reported, citing U.S. and Iraqi intelligence reports. "They are preparing for something, gathering weapons; people are coming in on buses from other parts of Iraq," Michael al-Zurufi, the Iraqi security adviser for the Al-Najaf governorate said. The daily also reported that al-Sadr militiamen continue to terrorize the local population, kidnapping police officials and their family members, arbitrarily "arresting" citizens, and occupying buildings in the city.

Al-Najaf Governor Adnan al-Zurufi told the daily that U.S. and Iraqi commanders are preparing their forces to combat any activities by the outlawed militia. Iraqi police and National Guard units have been equipped with rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and machine guns. "Last week we bought $6,000 worth of heavy machine guns, RPG-7 rounds, AK-47s and ammunition," al-Zurufi said. The governorate currently has about 2,500 police officers on duty, as well as 800 National Guard troops, which may not be enough to fight the militia, should it come to that. Iraqi National Guard commander Akyl Khalil Bruhan told the daily that 500 of his 800 men are stationed at different checkpoints throughout the governorate, leaving only 300 to operate as a fighting force. A number of security forces fled their posts in late April and early May rather than fight the militia. Others switched sides and fought alongside al-Sadr loyalists. The situation has been compounded by the militia's repeated attacks on police stations in Al-Najaf (see "RFE/RL Iraq Report," 2 July 2004).

Governor al-Zurufi reportedly has no intention now of arresting al-Sadr, who is wanted on an Iraqi arrest warrant for the 10 April 2003 killing of Shi'ite Ayatollah Abd al-Majid al-Khoi (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 April 2003). "I haven't received any order from Baghdad about arresting him, and I think it's a bad idea," al-Zurufi said. "Muqtada is a very simple person. He's not a leader who can control a million people, but we are making him a big shot." Meanwhile, locals remain disturbed by the militia's presence in the city, the CSM reported."

Document(s): original document

17.06.2004 - Source: BBC News

Who is Moqtada Sadr ("original document") [ID 10682]

""Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr is a young leader opposed to Iraqi co-operation with the US-led forces in the country. He has repeatedly called for foreign troops to leave Iraq, and his followers have held regular anti-US protests.""

Document(s): original document

04.06.2004 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Survey of armed groups in Iraq: Usbat Al-Huda / Bint Al-Huda ("original document") [ID 10684]

"Usbat Al-Huda (The League of Guidance). It claims to be part of radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Imam Al-Mahdi Army. The group has claimed responsibility for attacks on coalition forces and has threatened in a videotape broadcast by Al-Manar television on 11 May 2004 to "chop off the head of any agent we lay our hands on."

Bint Al-Huda (The daughter of Guidance). This group also issued a statement in the above-mentioned Usbat Al-Huda videotape. The group of women fighters pledges loyalty to Muqtada al-Sadr and threatens suicide attacks against the U.S. forces in Iraq."

Document(s): original document

06.04.2004 - Source: BBC News

Who are Iraq's Mehdi Army? ("original document") [ID 10685]

"Iraq's Mehdi Army (MA) militia probably has no more than a few thousand actual members but its potential for organising unrest is clear from the street battles which erupted in Shia parts of the country.

It was created in the summer of 2003, prompted by radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr, who preached in his sermons the need for a new force. Young men were recruited at offices near mosques to defend the Shia Muslim faith and their country in defiance of the US-led coalition's arms controls. One year on from the invasion, Mr Sadr's movement continues to take on new members, now feeding on dissatisfaction with the coalition among Shia who initially welcomed the ousting of Saddam Hussein and the end to curbs on their faith.

Its appeal is mainly to "those young and desperate Shia in Iraq's urban slums who have not seen any benefit to their lives from liberation", Dr Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at the University of Warwick, told BBC News Online. Taking its name from the Mehdi - a messianic figure in the Shia tradition - the militia is fiercely loyal to its religious founder.

"I'm not sure what the aim of the army is or when we will fight, but I will follow Sadr's orders," was how one original volunteer, 29-year-old Kathem Rissan, explained his position to the Financial Times in Baghdad last July.

Access to guns

The MA's potential as an armed force was only really felt when violence erupted with coalition forces this April, although many of the gunmen in action on the streets of Baghdad or Najaf may not necessarily have been militia members but ordinary Iraqis defending their neighbourhoods.

The ferocious street battles suggest the MA has access to rocket-propelled grenades as well as heavy machine-guns and the ubiquitous Kalashnikov assault rifle.
As Dr Dodge explains, weapons are widely available in a country where most men would have military training. After three wars in close succession, Iraq was a highly militarised state at the time of the coalition invasion and arms dumps were left open for months after the old regime fell. The MA was the first Shia militia to organise on the ground and now benefits from a degree of military discipline, making it the natural choice for leading unrest in Shia areas. It is believed to have no more 10,000 members and Dr Dodge suggests the number is much less. However, as the BBC's Paul Wood reports, Moqtada Sadr is believed to have the support of up to 15% of Iraq's Shia community, or just under 2.5 million people. (...)"

Document(s): original document

23.01.2004 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Muqtada al-Sadr will quit politics ("original document") [ID 10687]

"(...) IRAQI CLERIC SAYS HE MIGHT QUIT POLITICS. Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has said that he might forgo his political aspirations, according to a 16 January report on Beirut's Al-Manar television. "Let everybody know that I will not succumb to any party dissociated from the Iraqi people," al-Sadr said. "If I quit [politics] for religious reasons, my heart remains with you, and my soul and body are ready to be sacrificed for you," he said to the people of Iraq.

Al-Sadr, a vocal opponent to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, did not give clear reasons for his possible withdrawal from the political scene, except to say: "Afterward, I will devote myself to other important matters. Although this might subject me to death or detention, this is what I actually aspire for." He added that he would continue to lead a Friday prayer service. (...)"

Document(s): original document