Who is muqtada al sadr

Since , he has gone from Shia sectarian militia leader to pro-democracy reformist and Iraqi nationalist. And in the past few months, he has given mixed signals, both supporting and criticising the protesters. The most recent incidents of Sadrist violence targeting demonstrators provoked a societal backlash, prompting Sadr to change tack once more and announce that he would disband the blue hats and investigate their crimes against protesters. Iran, in the short term, appears to be going along with this solution to bring more coherence to its allied forces in Iraq as it seeks to counter what it regards as US aggression.

Iran also hopes that bringing Sadr back in will help neutralize the protest movement which threatens its stake in Iraqi politics. The first of these relates to long-standing fragmentation within the movement. This fragmentation makes it difficult for Sadr to impose a coherent politics on his followers from the top down. However, turnout was poor, especially given the huge logistical support for the march, and it lasted only a few hours.

Equally revealing, when Sadr called on his supporters to vacate the squares, many refused. Why should we leave them to die? He is neither trusted nor respected by the leaders of other groups. The Iran-brokered rapprochement is already showing signs of weakness. Even for the United States, Sadr presents an opportunity to sustainably stabilize a country it has been mired in for nearly two decades. Sadr suggested he might be willing to accept the presence of U. Twitter: anchalvohra.

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Shusha was the key to the recent war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Now Baku wants to turn the fabled fortress town into a resort. Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr drives a car as he joins anti-government demonstrators gathering in the central holy city of Najaf, Iraq, on Oct.

October 27, , AM. Join the Conversation Commenting on this and other recent articles is just one benefit of a Foreign Policy subscription. Take a look at the beta version of dw. We're not done yet! Your opinion can help us make it better. We use cookies to improve our service for you. You can find more information in our data protection declaration. He has been called an anti-American militant, a cross-sectarian reformer and a new hope for Iraq.

In a surprise result, prominent Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's bloc was set to gain the most votes in Iraq's divisive parliamentary elections , according to results published on Monday.

Unifying Shiite Islamists and irreligious communists under a reformist banner, al-Sadr's victory at the polls marked the culmination of years of work targeting corruption and government mismanagement. But al-Sadr built his name on everything but mainstream politics. While his political movement has transgressed sectarian lines in exchange for a nationalist platform, the Shiite cleric has a deep history of stoking those divides.

No one person has come to signify Iraq's post-invasion insurgency against US occupation like al-Sadr. In June , he formed the notorious Mahdi Army as a way to fight and one day expel occupying forces.

But the young Shiite cleric's militia forces stayed largely under the radar until , when they clashed with US forces in the southern city of Najaf, leading to a larger campaign targeting American troops in the country. That year, US forces were ordered to bring him in dead or alive after an Iraqi judge issued an arrest warrant for the murder of American soldiers. Bush , al-Sadr and his followers' actions amounted to the "opposite of democracy.

The Mahdi Army didn't just target US forces. During its active years, the militia also targeted Sunni Iraqis and other Shiite groups. It was accused of committing atrocities through the use of death squads and, as such, fueling sectarian strife.