Iraq adviser: Muqtada al-Sadr in Iran

(AP)
Updated: 2007-02-15 17:59

Aides to the cleric say he had secretly visited Iran at least once since 2003 in addition to a public visit last year.

Al-Sadr's family, one of the most prominent in the Middle East, won prestige by staying in Iraq during Saddam Hussein's administration - unlike prominent Shiite figures from mainstream parties who sought refuge in Tehran during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

Both al-Sadr's father and father-in-law were believed killed by Saddam's regime.

US authorities have vowed to force al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militiamen off the streets and have pressured Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki into telling al-Sadr that he could no longer protect his forces from the Americans, according to Iraqi officials.

Last week, US and Iraqi troops raided the al-Sadr-controlled Health Ministry in Baghdad, arresting Deputy Health Minister Hakim al-Zamili. The US accused al-Zamili of diverting millions of dollars to the Mahdi Army and allowing death squads to use ambulances and government hospitals for kidnappings and killings.

Al-Sadr rose from relative obscurity to become a national figure in the weeks after Saddam's ouster in 2003. His anti-American rhetoric and emphasis on his Arab ancestry - he claims descent from the Prophet Muhammad - have earned him the support of young and underprivileged Shiites across Iraq.

His top aides are mostly seminary students in their 30s and 40s who support him in part out of loyalty to his late father, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr.

Al-Sadr ensures that none of his top aides become too influential or stay in the media limelight for too long. He has had several spokesmen and chief political aides abruptly pushed aside after they spent months in the public eye. Some of these, fearing the wrath of al-Sadr or his hardcore supporters, go into hiding.


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