It Takes a Following to Make an Ayatollah
By Juan Cole
Sunday, August 15, 2004; Page B04

The battle for Najaf has catapulted the names of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and lower-ranking cleric Moqtada Sadr onto the front pages of American newspapers once again.

This story from the Observer reports the events in Najaf over the last few days and mentions Sunni - Shia cooperation in the struggle.

'After three wars we have all had enough'

The uprising against US troops in Najaf is causing further divisions among many Iraqis, who are fed up with fighting, reports Rory McCarthy, who has been in the holy Shia city for the past week

August 10, 2004 statement from www.idao.org, the Iraqi Democrats Against Occupation, followed by an August 10 report on the widespread uprising occurring in response to the US aggression in Najaf.

from juancole.com, august 11th, 2004.

The US military pounded Mahdi Army positions in the vast cemetery of Najaf again on Tuesday, with artillery and aerial bombardment. The Americans also began asking the civilian population (ordinarily nearly half a million strong) to leave the city, spurring fears that the US planned another massive assault. The suqs or traditional markests of downtown Najaf have already been reduced to rubble by US bombings.

Shiite Struggle: City suffers as sect
fights for freedom. By ALISSA J. RUBIN
Los Angeles Times

NAJAF, Iraq - Since the fall of Saddam Hussein last year, worshipers from across the Muslim world have thronged to the Imam Ali shrine on Fridays to hear the sermon and celebrate the Shiite sect's newfound freedom.

'This is the only fun the kids get - shooting at the US sitting ducks'

Who exactly are the Iraqi resistance?

In a remarkable essay, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad joins the front-line anti-American fighters in Kerbala, Falluja and Sadr City...

Shiite Gunmen Seize Najaf Police Station
By DANICA KIRKA

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Shiite gunmen seized a police station Thursday in Najaf in the first outbreak of fighting since an agreement to end weeks of bloody clashes between U.S. troops and militia forces. Four Iraqis were killed and 13 were injured, hospital and militia officials said.

A critical perspective on Muqtada al-Sadr.
***

Moqtada al-Sadr’s group, Iran’s betting hoarse

from wpiraq.org

By Fahad Nasir

The bloody developments and continuous war in Iraq between the occupation forces and gangs of al-Sadr have clarified among other facts, the role the Islamic regime in Iran and how it stands behind many horrifying crimes and events whether through the Iranian intelligence (Itlaat) or through various political Islamic movements. This reactionary and terrorist regime, its intelligence agency and bloody “revolutionary guards” stand behind many explosions, armed operations and increasing confrontation with the occupation forces, including current street to street fighting and killing innocent civilians and destroying their houses by haphazard shooting and bombardment by both parties of this war. It also stands behind all manifestations of reaction and brutality which prevail in the south of Iraq. These parts of Iraq are now, in a way, under the rule of the Islamic Republic regime through the Shiite Islamic movements. These reactionary movements impose on people all manifestation of reaction, backwardness, climate of terrorism, killings, sectarian frictions, oppression against women, and rightlessness.

THE STRATFOR WEEKLY

03 June 2004

Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia

By George Friedman

Summary

The United States has clearly entered a new phase of the Iraq campaign in

Two Killed in Attack on Convoy in Baghdad
Sunday May 30, 2004 7:01 PM
By MARIAM FAM
Associated Press Writer

NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - U.S. soldiers clashed with Shiite gunmen in this holy city on Sunday, further eroding an agreement to end the bloody standoff with followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Gunmen, meanwhile, attacked a convoy of sport utility vehicles in Baghdad, killing at least two people, witnesses said.

Deadly clashes shatter Najaf truce
Al Jazeera
Friday 28 May 2004 8:25 AM GMT

Five Iraqis have been killed and 14 wounded in clashes between US troops and Shia militiamen in the holy city of Najaf and in nearby Kufa, hospital sources say.

US retreats after failing to capture militia chief
By Justin Huggler in Baghdad
28 May 2004 - The Independent

United States forces agreed yesterday to withdraw from the Shia holy city of Najaf and end fighting with the militia of the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. In a climbdown by the Americans, who had vowed to kill or capture Sadr, it now appears he will be allowed to remain free. His Army of Mehdi militia will also withdraw under the deal.

from juancole.com, May 17th

al-Zaman: On Sunday, Shiite religious authorities in Karbala formally closed the shrines of Imam Husain and his half-brother Abu'l-Fadl Abbas, to pilgrims. This rare procedure has not been implemented for decades. It was felt necessary because although militiamen (including Badr Corps) loyal to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani hold the shrines, they have been infiltrated recently by gunmen of the Mahdi Army loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, who are using them for cover in their fight against the Americans.

· Troops backed by tanks take on al-Sadr's men
· Release of 300 prisoners from Abu Ghraib begins
· Tribal chief and daughter killed in blast

From the guardian.co.uk Friday May 14, 2004

US soldiers backed by tanks moved onto sacred ground in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf today, pushing deep into its ancient cemetery in a fierce battle with insurgents loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Iraqi cleric offers to end standoff
Militia will leave holy city if U.S. force withdraws Shiite leader seeks postponement of case for murder

NAJAF, Iraq— Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has agreed to pull his Mahdi Army militia out of Najaf if the U.S.-led coalition postpones its legal case against him and withdraws to set up an Iraqi force to patrol the holy city, local leaders said yesterday.

Cleric's forces gather for new offensive

Luke Harding in Abu Ghraib
Tuesday May 11, 2004
The Guardian

The radical Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, yesterday ordered his followers to launch a new offensive against American and British troops, in what appears to be a final and possibly decisive showdown with coalition forces across Iraq.

Shiite Gunmen Rampage Through Iraq Cities

Saturday May 8, 2004 1:16 PM

By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI

Associated Press Writer

NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - Gunmen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rampaged through Basra and another southern Iraq city, attacking British patrols and government buildings a day after an al-Sadr aide offered worshippers money for capturing or killing coalition soldiers.

2 Articles:

1. Three U.S. Soldiers Die in Clash with Sadr Militia
Wed May 5, 2004 01:55 PM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Three U.S. soldiers were killed in the Iraqi town of Diwaniya during clashes with the militia loyal to wanted Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the U.S. military said in a statement Wednesday.

May 5, 2004

U.S. Begins First Major Assault on Iraqi Militia Led by Cleric
By EDWARD WONG

ARBALA, Iraq, May 5 — The American military launched its first major assault against insurgents led by Moktada al-Sadr, a rebel Shiite cleric, striking early this morning at militia enclaves in this holy Shiite city and in another city in southern Iraq in an effort to retake control of those areas.

By DENIS D. GRAY

May 3rd, 2004 NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - Militiamen pounded a U.S. base with mortars Monday in the most intense attacks yet on U.S. troops in Najaf, where the Americans have been holding back their full firepower to avoid enflaming the anger of Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority. Another American soldier was killed in Baghdad.

3 articles:

1. U.S. Hostage Freed; 11 GIs Killed
May 2, 2004

...In other developments in Iraq:

Eleven soldiers were killed in separate attacks, raising the U.S. death toll to 151 since a wave of violence began on April 1. Six American service members killed in mortar attack in Anbar province, which includes such flashpoint cities as Fallujah and Ramadi in the Sunni Triangle. One U.S. soldier was killed Sunday and 10 were wounded in a bomb and small arms attack on a coalition base near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, the U.S. military said. Overnight, Shiite militiamen killed two soldiers in an attack on a U.S. convoy near the southern city of Amarah, 180 miles south of Baghdad. An attack in northwest Baghdad killed two other soldiers and wounded two Iraqi security officers and another American, the military said...

Al-Sadr consolidates forces in Najaf

Saturday 01 May 2004, 14:45 Makka Time, 11:45 GMT Al Jazeera

Al-Sadr's fighters are arriving in Najaf from other cities

Fighters of Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army have dug in with force in the inner sanctum of the city of Najaf.

2 Articles:

1. 3 U.S. soldiers are killed in Iraq attack

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 17 (UPI) -- Iraqi gunmen reportedly fired rocket propelled grenades at a U.S. patrol in a Baghdad suburb Saturday, killing three soldiers and wounding three others.

Occupation troops clash with al-Sadr army

Al Jazeera
Friday 16 April 2004, 17:42 Makka Time, 14:42 GMT

Five Iraqi civilians have been killed and another 20 wounded during clashes between US marines and the Mahdi Army in Najaf while Muqtada al-Sadr made his first public appearance in two weeks. 

Spanish base attacked in Najaf
Al Jazeera

Friday 16 April 2004, 14:13 Makka Time, 11:13 GM

Aljazeera's correspondent in Najaf has reported that the Spanish military base has come under attack following clashes between Spanish forces and unidentified assailants.

Insurgents' tactics more sophisticated: Campaign damages bridges, hampering movement

By Thomas E. Ricks

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DUKE, Iraq, April 13 - Insurgents fighting the U.S.-led occupation force have sharply increased the sophistication, coordination and aggressiveness of their tactics over the past week, Army officers and soldiers involved in combat here said.

Sistani’s Strong Response to U.S.
from www.mehrnews.com/en (an iranian news service?)

BAGHDAD, Iraq April 12 (MNA) -– Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani prominent Iraqi Shia cleric in a strong worded message to the U.S.-led coalition forces warned them against the consequences of attacking Shia cities after Arba’in (40th day of Ashura).

In an effort to toughen the Iraqi forces, Abizaid said the U.S. military will reach out to former senior members of Saddam Hussein's disbanded army — a reversal in strategy. The military has tried to avoid relying on top officials from the ousted regime. "It's ... very clear that we've got to get more senior Iraqis involved — former military types involved in the security forces," he said. "In the next couple of days, you'll see a large number of senior officers being appointed to key positions in the ministry of defense and the Iraqi joint staff and in Iraqi field commands."

U.S. Copter Crashes, Burns Near Fallujah

Tuesday April 13, 2004 1:01 PM

By ABDUL-QADER SAADI

Associated Press Writer

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - A U.S. helicopter crashed and burned Tuesday outside Fallujah after witnesses said it was hit by a rocket. In the south, hundreds of U.S. troops converging on Najaf for a showdown with a radical Shiite cleric came under an ambush that killed one soldier.

(from juancole.net) A kind friend who was able to get a phone call into Najaf reports as follows:

' I called my friend in Najaf today Thursday . . . Private internet doesn´t work. Messages bounce. There are though some institutional connections working, like hospitals and other.