Iraqi Shiite split widens

Depending on whom you talk to, Moqtada al-Sadr is either a young hot-head or a talented and pious son of one of Iraq's most revered Shiite clerics. But whomever you ask, he's clearly making waves and throwing the US-led coalition's plans for Iraq off kilter.

The radical cleric is also forcing to the surface splits within Iraq's Shiite community, oppressed under Saddam Hussein although representing about 60 percent of the population. By confronting other clerics and demanding more political power from the coalition he has revealed a patchwork of allegiances and grievances that show the Shiites are far from a monolithic political force.

Late Monday evening in Karbala, the site of Shiite Islam's second holiest shrine, members of Mr. Sadr's Mahdi Army militia engaged in a running gun battle with supporters of Sheikh Ali Hussein Sistani in a struggle for control of the shrines to Abbas and Hussein. The tombs of these 7th-century imams are regular pilgrimage sites and their guardians are accorded respect and power among the Shiites.

According the Baghdad-based Iraqi Governing Council, one person was killed in the fighting and 35 were injured.

Mowaffak al-Rubaie, says the situation was so sensitive that he didn't want to discuss who had sparked the clash, or even directly address the factions at all. "This was between two groups trying to control the local muni cipality and the shrines."

"What none of us wants is for major splits to emerge within the Shiite community,'' says Mr. Rubaie. "So the GC is sending a delegation to Najaf and Karbala to reconcile all of the parties and to try to resolve this crisis."

Such mediation would involve dealing with Mr. Sistani, probably the most widely revered living cleric among Iraq's Shiite community. Until now, Sistani has maintained a pious distance from the country's emerging politicians. Though many believe that Sistani disapproves of the young Sadr's confrontational approach, Tuesday's clash was the first sign of open conflict - and perhaps evidence that the young Sadr has gone too far.

Amatzia Baram, a leading historian of Iraq and a senior fellow of the US Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., says he has followed the rise of Sadr with some unease.

While he doubts that Sadr, whose religious credentials are almost solely confined to the reflected glory of his deceased father, will ever win anywhere close to a majority of Iraq's Shiites to his side, he does command a devoted following among the poor of Sadr City, a poor Shiite area of Baghdad that is home to about 2 million people.

Sadr City was named Saddam City until shortly after the regime fell, and is named after Mohammed Sadiq Sadr, Moqtada's father, who was assassinated by the Hussein regime in 1999. The elder Sadr's portrait is everywhere in town.

"Sadr is a junior clergymen but he's very clever as a politician,'' says Mr. Baram. "He may not be the most popular figure in Iraq, but he has a strong and focused base among the poor of Sadr city. That's why he's so dangerous - he has a lot of potential footsoldiers."

Sistani represents the majority of Iraq's Shiites. A cautious figure, he is so respected that many believe he can not only repair internal divisions within the Shiite community, but also heal some of the country's larger sectarian and ethnic divisions.

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