Shiites Rising: Sect leaders craft message for masses

Emerging for the first time after months in hiding from US forces and Shiite rivals, Moqtada al-Sadr swept into Iraq's Kufa mosque in late May to deliver a potent sermon.

"No, no, no to Satan! No, no, no to America! No, no, no to occupation! No, no, no to Israel!" he roared, wearing a white shroud over black robes to indicate his readiness for martyrdom.

But along with strident calls to resist, the cleric struck another theme that is increasingly heard from ascendant Shiite leaders: Muslim unity.

"I want to say now that the blood of Sunnis is forbidden to everyone," preached the cleric. "They are our brothers in religion and in nationality."

The message is a pan-Islamic blend of Shiite ideology and nationalism heard also in Lebanon from Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah and in Iran from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Those populist leaders, at the fore of new Shiite prominence in the Middle East, are defining an "axis of resistance" to America and its allies in rhetoric and action. That stance is winning some support across the sectarian divide, while their extensive social programs inspire support from the region's poor.

In Iraq, Sadr does it by playing all sides in Iraq's power matrix. He has seeded loyalists in the US-backed government, played kingmaker for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and controlled some ministries that matter to ordinary Iraqis, including health and transport. Sadr's six ministers resigned in April in political protest, but were widely seen as ineffective and corrupt.

But Sadr can also claim the anti-American crown – unlike his main Shiite opponents who, while close to Iran, have also been received in the Oval Office. Sadr has avoided US capture and was wounded in 2004 when his militia took on American forces. But even while reaching out to Sunnis, the Mahdi Army has been engaged in ethnic cleansing of Sunnis from mixed neighborhoods, is accused of kidnapping five Britons last week, and has been engaging in lethal clashes with rival Shiites vying for power in southern Iraq.

Sadr rejects talks with US commanders and says that they still want to kill him, as they vowed to do in 2004: "There is nothing to talk about," he told the Independent on Sunday of London last week. "The Americans are occupiers and thieves, and they must set a timetable to leave this country." He said the intra-Shiite fighting in "many parts of Iraq is the result of a sad misunderstanding."

In Lebanon, national unity was cemented by the war with Israel, and Sheikh Nasrallah burnished his reputation as a heroic "Arab Khomeini."Nasrallah played the Shiite card decisively only once during the summertime battle, in his first speech after Israel began bombing Lebanon to retaliate for Hizbullah's cross-border capture of two Israeli soldiers. He told the Israelis they were fighting the "sons of Hussein, the sons of [Shiite Imam] Ali," says Nicholas Noe, editor of the Beirut-based Mideastwire.com and of a book of Nasrallah speeches titled "Voice of Hezbullah."

It was aimed directly at rallying his troops with dramatic Shiite iconography. But even in that speech – and many subsequent ones – Nasrallah made deliberate references to non-Shiite faiths and their prophets, Moses and Abraham."This was really an effort by Nasrallah to claim a victory for all Lebanese. And he specifically went out of his way to [refer] to their iconic heroes," says Mr. Noe.

During the battle, even Hizbullah was taken aback by the number of non-Shiites who volunteered to fight.

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