In an act described by witnesses as verging on the "unthinkable," scores of Iraqis staged a protest against the Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Sunday inside a region known as a stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia.
On Monday, in the Kasra wa Atash area, in the Eastern part of the capital near Sadr City, assembled protestors chanted anti-Sadr slogans, and voiced objection to the recent trends in Sadr's leadership of the Sadrist Current, the Shi'a religious tendency named after his father and father-in-law.
The marchers chanted in Arabic: "The traitor is a soldier and we have discharged him" (i.e. from his military service). When a Slogger source asked to confirm who the "soldier" was referred to in the chant, marchers indicated that it the "dismissal" was indeed directed to Muqtada al-Sadr, using the nickname "Qaddu," an Arabic nickname for the young Shi'a cleric that derives from his first name.
Protesters continued to add that they considered Sadr to have betrayed the Sadrist Current to the Americans, by his recent order that the Mahdi Army militia should stand down and by distancing himself from Iraq's political affairs lately, witnesses said.
Slogger sources hasten to add that the area of Kasra wa 'Atash is well-known to in the Mahdi Army's zone of influence, making the scene all the more remarkable. Locals tell Slogger that a demonstration critical of Muqtada al-Sadr in that area of the capital would have been unthinkable in the past.
Moreover, witnesses said that there was no interference from the militia seeking to disrupt the protest or punish the demonstrators.
Eyewitnesses estimated the crowd at around 100 people, and described the participants as people mostly younger and older than the typical Mahdi Army militiaman, some very young in age, around 13 or 14, with most of the protesters in their 60s or 70s. The witnesses added that the demonstrators appeard to be followers of the Sadrist Current, but who are apparently growing frustrated with the cleric's recent non-confrontational policies.
Some marchers reportedly accused the Sadrist leadership of reaching a quiet agreement with US forces in order to pacify the capital, but said they opposed such an arrangement, preferring that the Sadrist current offer resistance to the American presence.
Meanwhile on Monday, in Baghdad al-Jadida suspected rogue Mahdi Army elements, defying the "freeze" order, extended last month by Sadr, planted roadside explosives and launched mortars, apparently targeting American forces, locals say.
Three IEDs were discovered and defused after police received tips from residents in the eastern Baghdad district on Sunday, and 12 mortars were fired, local security sources say.
Suspicion in the district points to potential Iranian influence among the rogue groups that disobey Sadr's freeze order in order to target US forces.
Locals said it was significant that mainline members of the Mahdi Army, who are obeying the orders of the Sadrist offices not to conduct armed operations, disavowed Sunday's armed activity in Baghdad al-Jadida, and said that residents should report such activity to the Sadrist offices. The Sadr office would investigate the attacks and hand the cases over to the security forces, they said.
Members of IraqSlogger's network of Iraqi staff contributed to this report but choose to remain anonymous for security reasons.
