Shiite power struggle simmers in Najaf

Abtan says the recent fighting was just the growing pains of freedom. "Democracy is new to the Iraqi people. As more time passes ... we will learn how to live together and make the best of it," he says.

That message has not made it through to the Sadr officials in Najaf, however, just a few minutes away in this compact city.

"In Najaf we suffer from an uncooperative government. They are not working with us with a good sense," says Salah al-Obaeidi, a Sadr representative in Najaf. "They try to be very restrictive of [Sadr] visitors, refusing to allow them to say the [Sadr Movement] slogans ... we can't say they have targeted us but we can say they are not cooperative with us."

Mr. Obaeidi says that across southern Iraq the relationship between SCIRI and Sadr varies from tense coexistence as in Najaf, to the all-out armed conflict that has flared frequently in Basra and Samawa.

The Shiite political parties like SCIRI entered Iraq from exile in Iran after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. As a result they have little constituency among average Shiites and many leaders have spent decades outside the country they are now ruling.

Instead, the majority of Shiites identify strongly with the marjiyeh, four grand ayatollahs who each hold the status as the highest religious Shiite authority. SCIRI was swept into office last January after Ali al-Sistani, the first among the four equals, was believed to have given his support to them.

The divide between Sadr and SCIRI is more than just the natural rivalry produced by Iraq's new political plurality. It is rooted in historical tensions in the Shiite community, making the divide all the more entrenched. Sadr comes from a family of prominent Shiite clerics who have a history of being outspokenly antiestablishment.

But SCIRI represents the Shiite establishment that supports Ayatollah Sistani, who was a rival of Sadr's beloved father. Sadr himself has few religious credentials and publicly pays homage to Sistani's authority. His weeks-long battle with American troops in Najaf in August 2004 was seen as an affront to Sistani's authority to some, but also earned him enormous street credibility.

While most people across Najaf have chosen sides between the Sadr movement and SCIRI, some, like Kadhim Mohammed a shopkeeper here, are not allied with any political group and are caught in the middle of the Sadr-SCIRI power struggle.

When asked about Sadr he was reticent. "I can't answer this question. I can't," says Mr. Mohammed, who wouldn't give his real name. "If you don't say anything for or against them, if you don't talk about it, you will be OK."

Page: 1 | 2