Moderates fear US is playing to al-Sadr script

IRAQ: When Moqtada al-Sadr's militia army seized control of southern Iraq last week, he claimed his radical view represented the Shia. The message was simple. "All of Iraq is behind the sufferings of Seyed Moqtada," his office claimed last week, while outside a crowd of a hundred shouted pro-al-Sadr slogans.

But yesterday in Sadr City, named after the cleric's father, more moderate Shia voices have begun to emerge as a degree of calm return to the streets. They say Sheikh al-Sadr, far from representing them, has hijacked their cause with his harsh rhetoric.

"How can anyone respect what Moqtada says when he advocates killing and violence," said Ali Aboud Ali, a geography teacher at Fettah Boy's School in Sadr City. "Al-Sadr does not have the support of the Shia people. He has come close to destroying us," said Mr Ali.

Mr Ali's school has been deserted since clashes with US forces in the area began 10 days ago, when the coalition arrested two clerics and issued a warrant for Sheikh al-Sadr's arrest. The fighting sparked an uprising of al-Sadr's Mahdi army in the major cities of southern Iraq.

Teachers at the school describe the atmosphere of oppression and fear they have lived under since Sheikh al-Sadr's Mahdi army took to the streets.

"They are as bad as the Americans, threatening people with guns," said Arabic teacher Kasim Najim. "Al-Sadr's militia has been infiltrated by terrorists and bad people. It should be disbanded at once after what happened here."

Yesterday an air of normality returned to the streets of Sadr City. The markets were open selling fresh fish and not so fresh vegetables, and shoppers filled the street.

Outside Sheikh al-Sadr's offices, the Mahdi army has taken down its road blocks.

"Insha'allah, things will be peaceful now," said Dr Adnan Mohsen at the al-Sadr hospital.

He described the harrowing days last week when he treated dozens of injured people from the fighting. Now the injuries Dr Mohsen treats are from the hazards of living in one of the poorest slums in Iraq, not gunshot wounds.

He wants to see Sheikh al-Sadr arrested and his militia disbanded, but warns that if US forces press ahead with threats to assassinate or capture Sheikhal-Sadr, the Mahdi army will return to the streets in greater numbers.

"The Americans have played into al-Sadr's hands. If they go into Najaf and Karbala, they will force the Shia people to defend him."

Dr Murtada Abbas added: "Al-Sadr's militia are still out there. He is stronger than ever."

On the streets of Sadr City the source of Shiekh al-Sadr's strength is plain to see. In front of the central mosque, rubbish fills the streets, along with crowds of unemployed. There is a clear class divide between the views of educated men such as Ali and Dr Mohsen, and the majority of people in Sadr City.

For many, al-Sadr's fiery rhetoric has given them hope that a US occupation that has failed to live up to its promises will come to a speedy end.

In a crowd, residents to a man declare their support for Sheikh al-Sadr and willingness to die with their brothers in Falluja.

Sheikh Al-Sadr, they say, son of the revered cleric who gave the slum its name, must lead the country in a national revolt.

But spoken to alone, some admit they are tired of the fighting, and fear a broadening of the uprising.

Hassan Ali, a roadside vendor said: "I don't want Sadr City to become like Falluja. Things are bad here at the moment. But Falluja is hell."

Another man called Karim, unemployed, said: "I feel nervous when I see American tanks and nervous when I see the Mahdi army.

"They don't seem to realise that it is ordinary people like us who are the victims," said Karim. "We are caught in the middle."