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Rival factions struggle to lead Shiites in Iraq =
Moderates, militants vie for top cleric's post

Borzou = Daragahi,=20 Chronicle Foreign Service

Saturday, September 6, 2003

Printable=20 Version=20
Email=20 This Article

Najaf, Iraq -- As believers filed in to Friday = prayers, grieving over last week's assassination of Ayatollah = Mohammed=20 Baqir al-Hakim, clerics huddled in this holy city wrestled with a=20 potentially explosive succession battle that will decide who will = lead=20 Iraq's 15 million Shiites.=20

"A fierce competition is taking place," said Loulouwa = al-Rachid, an=20 analyst for the International Crisis Group, a public policy think = tank=20 based in Belgium, and an expert on the Shiite community.=20

The stakes -- for both Iraqis and the U.S.-led occupation = authority --=20 are high.=20

"An uprising by Iraq's majority Shiites would be a catastrophe = for the=20 American occupation force," al-Rachid said. "It would destabilize = Iraq."=20

The power struggle pits moderate middle-class followers and = clerics=20 aligned with the al-Hakim family against the poorer, younger and = more=20 militant followers of a young clerical student named Moqtada = al-Sadr.=20

Al-Hakim, despite his close ties to the anti-American clerical=20 leadership in Iran, had emerged as a voice of moderation and even = allowed=20 his political group, the Supreme Council for the Islamic = Revolution in=20 Iraq, to participate in the U.S.-backed Governing Council, where = his=20 brother, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, serves. Al-Sadr, on the other hand, = has=20 repeatedly made strident calls for the American-led coalition = forces to=20 get out of Iraq.=20

On Friday, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim was expected to officiate at the = weekly=20 prayer service in Najaf, but he failed to appear, citing security=20 concerns. His slain brother's deputy, Seyyed Sadreddin = al-Kubbanji, stood=20 in for him, but neither man is expected to assume leadership of = Najaf's=20 Imam Ali Mosque.=20

Abdel Aziz al-Hakim does not have the religious credentials to = lead=20 Friday prayers on a regular basis. He ran the Badr Brigade, the = Supreme=20 Council's 10, 000-man militia, before returning from exile.=20

NAJAF ASSUMING MAJOR ROLE

The city of Najaf, where Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim and scores of = others=20 died in the Aug. 29 car bombing, "is rapidly becoming the Vatican = of=20 Shiism," said William Beeman, an anthropologist who heads the = Middle East=20 studies department at Brown University.=20

During the secular rule of Saddam Hussein, the theological = center of=20 Shiism shifted to religious cities in Iran. But with the Shiites'=20 oppressor deposed, Najaf is reclaiming its historic place, Beeman = said.=20 "Anyone preaching at the Ali mosque is going to be listened to = with=20 special acuteness by the body of believers," he said.=20

Devout Shiites must choose a cleric as a marja, or person to = emulate.=20 They follow their marja's orders on everything from personal = hygiene to=20 declarations of violent struggle.=20

RIVALS FOR DECADES

The two factions vying for the leadership post made vacant by = Mohammed=20 Baqir al-Hakim's assassination have been rivals for decades, and = both=20 suffered greatly under Hussein's rule. The al-Hakims say they lost = more=20 than 50 relatives in their struggle against the former dictator, = while=20 al-Sadr's father, a famous ayatollah, and two brothers were killed = by=20 Hussein's henchmen.=20

Both groups also claim to speak for the majority of the Iraqi = people.=20 Shiites make up about 60 percent of the nation of 25 million. And = in the=20 wake of the car bombing that killed al-Hakim, both groups have = begun=20 arming themselves in the name of protecting Iraq's holy sites.=20

"There are discussions going on, but they're peaceful," said = Muwaffak=20 al- Rubayee, a Shiite scholar and member of the Governing Council. = "The=20 important thing is that people are calling for calm. The debate is = not=20 being conducted with guns."=20

But the potential for violence was evident Friday as about = 15,000=20 worshipers filed into Imam Ali Mosque. Kalashnikov-wielding = militiamen=20 wearing black armbands that read Badr Brigade stopped vehicles = entering=20 the square outside the shrine, and the crowd, chanting "Death to = the=20 Baathists, Death to America," vowed to wage holy war in the name = of the=20 fallen al-Hakim.=20

Hussein banned Friday prayers at the Imam Ali mosque, one of = many steps=20 he took to stifle Iraq's rebellious Shiites. Al-Hakim, who lived = in exile=20 in Iran for 23 years, entered Iraq in May and grabbed control of = the=20 vacant pulpit in a flurry, to the chagrin of some and the relief = of=20 others.=20

Although he had lived abroad during most of Hussein's rule, the = ayatollah brought back with him enough clerical stature to = stabilize the=20 leadership of Najaf. "Al-Hakim was both religiously and = politically=20 qualified for the job," said Naseer Kamel Chaderji, a Sunni member = of the=20 Governing Council whose wife hails from a well-known Najaf Shiite = family.=20

HARD-LINER WAITS IN THE WINGS

No one believes the young al-Sadr, who has yet to complete his=20 religious studies, could take the helm of Imam Ali mosque. But = some fear=20 he would try to use his family's connections to bolster his = faction's=20 standing and pave the way for the arrival of his mentor, Ayatollah = Kadhem=20 Husseini Haeri, an ultra- conservative Iraqi cleric based in the = Iranian=20 seminary city of Qom.=20

One of Haeri's first acts after the April 9 fall of Baghdad was = to=20 issue fatwas, or edicts -- printed on pamphlets and distributed = through=20 poor sections of Baghdad -- denouncing the U.S.-led occupation and = calling=20 for Iraqi Shiites to resist it.=20

Other candidates who have been mentioned include Ayatollah = Mohammed=20 Saeed al-Hakim, a relative of the slain cleric, and Grand = Ayatollah Ali=20 Sistani, perhaps the most revered of all Iraq's Shiite clerics. = But many=20 religious students and clerics in Najaf dismissed them as too = absorbed in=20 their books and religious scholarship and too out of touch with = the lives=20 of the people.=20

It is al-Sadr's salty speech and modest clerical training that = has=20 helped him connect with the masses of poor, young alienated = Shiites,=20 al-Rachid says. He is known popularly as the marja for the = Break-iya --=20 gangs of young thugs with crew cuts who adopted break-dance = culture and=20 were notorious for getting drunk and harassing women in Baghdad's = streets.=20

Leaders of the Shiite community worry about an armed factional = fight=20 breaking out between the al-Hakim and al-Sadr camps, both of which = claim=20 to represent the Hawza, Najaf's seminary and incubator of Shiite = thought.=20

Although few believe al-Sadr's followers are cold-blooded = enough to=20 have pulled off the car bombing that killed al-Hakim, his = followers are=20 thought to have been behind the killing of Abdul Majid al-Khoei, = an=20 American-backed cleric who was stabbed to death outside the Imam = Ali=20 mosque on April 10.=20

"The situation is very dangerous now," said Sheikh Hassan = al-Zergani, a=20 cleric who preaches in the poor Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr = City.

Page A - 1

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Rival factions struggle to lead Shiites in Iraq = Moderates, militants vie for top cleric's post

NAJAF ASSUMING MAJOR ROLE

RIVALS FOR DECADES

HARD-LINER WAITS IN THE WINGS

Rival factions struggle to lead Shiites in Iraq =
Moderates, militants vie for top cleric's post