Iraq: Al-Sadr followers dismayed at govt crackdown

Followers of Muqtada al-Sadr accused the Iraqi government of targeting their political movement as security forces arrested 20 policemen linked to the anti-American cleric.

The arrests occurred on the third day of a security operation in Amarah, a southern Shiite city and purportedly a hub for smuggling weapons to Iraqi Shiite extremists from Iran.

Amarah is also a stronghold of Mr al-Sadr’s political movement. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, had promised not to arrest Mr al-Sadr’s followers who were not involved in criminal activity.

However, Mr al-Sadr also commands the country’s biggest Shiite armed group, the Mahdi Army, and the line between legitimate political activity and links to the militia are often blurred.

During a news conference in Baghdad, Sadrist politicians noted that they had agreed to support the Amarah crackdown – Operation Promise of Peace – because the government said it was aimed at restoring law and order.

But the arrest on Thursday of the city’s Sadrist mayor, Rafia Abdul-Jabbar, raised tempers among followers of Mr al-Sadr, who has led a series of armed uprisings against US-led coalition and Iraqi forces since 2004.

“What is happening is that this security operation was transformed from a security offensive to a political offensive,” Sadrist politician Ameerah al-Etabi said. “Security forces have targeted persons related to the Sadrist movement ... without any charge other than belonging to al-Sadr movement.”

She criticised government forces for tearing down pictures of the young cleric and his late father, Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, a major Shiite figure believed assassinated by Saddam Hussein’s agents.

“We demand of the prime minister that the security operation be more professional and neutral and that it does not target a specific party,” Ms al-Etabi said.