Posts
Sadr: The New King of Iraq
It would be hard to imagine a more unlikely meeting. Late inJuly, the tempestuous Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr traveled to Damascusfrom Iran, where he's been living in exile for the past three years. The trip lookedat first to be a routine photo-op for Sadr and Syrian President Bashar Assad. Thatis, until Sadr met with Ayad Allawi, a top contender for the prime ministerpost in Iraq and one of the cleric's sworn enemies. Their mutual enmity datesback to a showdownin the holy city of Najaf in the summer of 2004. Sadr's Mahdi Army fighters hadtaken over the city and were using the Imam Ali shrine, one of the holiestsites for Shiites, as a base of operations. Allawi, who was interim primeminister at the time, gave American and Iraqi troops the green light to takethem out, killing...
[url]http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/08/20/the_king_of_iraq[/url]
No comments:
Post a Comment