Monday, April 23, 2007
Hundreds of Fadhila supporters demonstrate against Sadrists
Security, Politics
(International Herald Tribune) - For the second time this week, a demonstration was held in southern Iraq on Saturday underlying the fierce rivalry between two Shiite groups vying for influence as Britain prepares to reduce its forces in the region. Hundreds of supporters of the Shiite Fadhila party gathered in the southern city of Nasiriyah to protest a demonstration that 3,000 Iraqis believed to be followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr had held earlier this week in Basra to demand the resignation of its provincial governor because of poor city services and alleged corruption in that southern city, Iraq's second largest.
Fighters allied with al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and the Fadhila party often clash with one another in mostly Shiite southern Iraq, and last month a dozen people were wounded in such fighting. Saturday's Fadhila protesters issued a statement defending Basra Gov. Mohammed al-Waili, a Fadhila member, and warning his opponents to back down. "We will hold demonstrations, sit-ins and confrontations, if needed," the statement said.
Al-Waili has said he fears that demonstrators plan to storm his office and kill him, then take control of government banks and a state-run oil company in the oil-rich Basra region. On Tuesday, Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Shiite Hassan Kazemi Qomi, went to the holy Shiite city of Najaf in southern Iraq and met with Grand Ayatollah Mohammed al-Yaqoubi, the spiritual leader of the Fadhila party, in an apparent effort to reduce tensions in the Basra area.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani also have urged Shiite religious and political leaders in southern Iraq to ban demonstrations in an effort to keep the area calm as it passes through a difficult period of transition.
Fighters allied with al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and the Fadhila party often clash with one another in mostly Shiite southern Iraq, and last month a dozen people were wounded in such fighting. Saturday's Fadhila protesters issued a statement defending Basra Gov. Mohammed al-Waili, a Fadhila member, and warning his opponents to back down. "We will hold demonstrations, sit-ins and confrontations, if needed," the statement said.
Al-Waili has said he fears that demonstrators plan to storm his office and kill him, then take control of government banks and a state-run oil company in the oil-rich Basra region. On Tuesday, Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Shiite Hassan Kazemi Qomi, went to the holy Shiite city of Najaf in southern Iraq and met with Grand Ayatollah Mohammed al-Yaqoubi, the spiritual leader of the Fadhila party, in an apparent effort to reduce tensions in the Basra area.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani also have urged Shiite religious and political leaders in southern Iraq to ban demonstrations in an effort to keep the area calm as it passes through a difficult period of transition.
Labels: Fadhela party, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed al-Yaqoubi, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Mahdi Army, Mohammed al-Waili, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Najaf, Nasiriyah
