Cleric calls for US troops to leave Iraq

The US military also announced the deaths of eight American soldiers and one Marine, putting May in line to be one of the deadliest months for US forces in Iraq.

Al-Sadr went underground – reportedly in Iran – at the start of the US-led security crackdown on Baghdad 14 weeks ago. He had also ordered his militia off the streets to prevent conflict with US forces.

His return to the Shiite holy city of Najaf appeared to be an effort by the 33-year-old firebrand cleric to regain control over his militia, which had begun fragmenting, and to take advantage of the illness of a Shiite rival.

There had also been some indication that his absence from the national arena was costing him political support.

Al-Sadr drove in a long motorcade from Najaf to its sister city of Kufa to deliver an anti-American sermon to 6,000 chanting supporters at the main mosque.

“No, no for Satan. No, no for America. No, no for the occupation. No, no for Israel,” the glowering, black-turbaned cleric chanted in a call and response with the crowd.

“We demand the withdrawal of the occupation forces, or the creation of a timetable for such a withdrawal,” he said, wiping sweat from his brow with a white cloth as temperatures hovered at 113 degrees. “I call upon the Iraqi government not to extend the occupation even for a single day.”

But even on the day he spoke, President George Bush signed a 95 billion dollars (£48 billion) bill to pay for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through September 30, after a bitter struggle with Democrats who sought to tie the money to troop withdrawals.

“Rather than mandate arbitrary timetables for troop withdrawals or micromanage our military commanders, this legislation enables our servicemen and women to follow the judgment of commanders on the ground,” Bush said in a statement.

While the call for a US pullout was nothing new, al-Sadr also peppered his speech with nationalist overtones, criticising the government for not providing services, appealing to his followers not to fight with Iraqi security forces and reaching out to Sunnis.

“To our Iraqi Sunni brothers, I say that the occupation sows dissension among us and that strength is unity and division is weakness,” he said. “I’m ready to cooperate with them in all fields.”

Al-Sadr did not address his reasons for returning.

However, during his time in absentia his militia appeared to have split into a faction calling itself the “noble Mahdi Army” and more extremist elements that it accuses of killing innocent Sunnis and embezzling funds. Some members of the more moderate faction were even willing to provide the US military with information on their rivals in an effort to purge the militia.

In addition to trying to rein in the force, Al-Sadr is also believed to be honing plans to consolidate political gains and foster ties with Iran – and possibly trying to capitalise on the illness of Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and went to Iran for treatment.

Anthony Cordesman, an analyst at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said al-Sadr might have come back to try to garner Sunni support, establish himself as a critic of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and take the mantle as the leading Iraqi opponent of the US presence here.

“In doing so, he can ride a wave of public opinion that sees the US as having failed, coalition forces as a ’threat,’ and is deeply frustrated with a weak Maliki government,” he wrote in an analysis.

Al-Sadr’s associates say his strategy rests in part on his belief that Washington will soon start reducing troop strength, leaving behind a hole in Iraq’s security and political power structure that he can fill.

He also believes Maliki’s government may soon collapse because of its failure to improve security, services and the economy, they say.

In Washington, National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe expressed hope that al-Sadr’s reappearance signalled he wanted “to play a positive role inside Iraq.”

“He has an opportunity to be a part of the political reconciliation process. We’ll see if he and his followers participate,” he said.

Later yesterday, the Mahdi Army received a blow when its Basra leader, Wissam al-Waili, 23, also known as Abu Qadir, was shot and killed along with his brother and two aides during a gun battle with British and Iraqi troops, police and the British military said.

The battle began about 4pm during a raid to arrest al-Waili in Jumhoriyah, a middle class, residential area in central Basra, police said. Al-Waili and his three companions opened fire and were killed when the troops shot back, police said.

Several hours later, Mahdi Army militants broke into the home of a former top Iraqi officer in Basra, set one Humvee on fire and stole another.

Late yesterday and into the early hours of today, Mahdi Army loyalists surrounded a police station after hitting it with mortar fire, a top Basra police official said. He claimed that British helicopters responded and fired on a house near the police station to drive away the attackers.

A second top police officer said two British forces and an Iraqi policeman were wounded. He said five Mahdi Army fighters were killed and 15 wounded.

The Ministry of Defence in London said a handful of militants was in the area and that there was a small number of casualties from “indirect fire,” military terminology for mortar or rocket attacks.

The ministry did not confirm the reported intervention by British helicopters.