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CRUCIAL MOMENTS IN HISTORY
THIS CRUCIAL MOMENT IN HISTORY
<>MER - Mid-East Realities - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 25 August 2004: There
are crucial moments, and persons, in history. Gandhi in India,
Mandela in South Africa, Martin Luther King in the United States --
each had earned a power of personality, principles, and credibility
that at the crucial moment in time came together to change the history
of their country and of the world. In the more ancient history of
the Middle East there were of course such figures as Saladin, Christ,
Mohammed.
Not all such powerful historic figures succeed -- some are not truly
deserving, others face overwhelming counter-power. Yasser Arafat has
terribly mislead his own people -- not because he didn't conform to the
demands of the United States, but rather because he squandered his
historic moments along with such unprecedented amounts of international
support and resources. Geranamo failed to appreciated the true
dimensions of the White Man's advance and in the end found himself and
his people in chains. For many American Blacks there is the more
recent powerful figure of Malcolm X. There was Che in Latin America.
And for many Muslims, however hard for Westerners to understand, there
is today Osama.
Now
on this very day in history there is another Ayatollah in and at the
heart of the Middle East at a crucial moment in time. The very term
'Ayatollah' was hardly known in the West before the Iranian revolution
just 25 years ago now. But in the immediate days ahead it now appears
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is to have his and maybe modern
on-its-knees Iraq's 'rendevous with history'. And then what this is
really all about now is the future rather than the past, especially
with Iraqi 'elections' supposed to take place just 5 months from
now. What will the American Empire with its arsenal of planes,
tanks, and shock troops now do to deter, deflect, or stop him? What
will the U.S.-installed and protected Allawi regime in Baghdad now do
to attempt to co-opt or twist him?
Al-Sistani returns to Iraq
Wednesday 25 August 2004 - Al-Jazeera - 16:18 Makka Time, 13:18 GMT
The country's top Shia cleric has urged people to march on Najaf
Iraq's
most influential Shia cleric, Grand Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani, is in
the southern city of Basra and will head to Najaf soon to try to
resolve the crisis there, an aide says.
Al-Sistani's
return comes as US and Iraqi forces tightened their siege of Najaf's
Imam Ali mosque, where supporters of Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr are
holed up.
"He has entered Iraq through Basra. He
will head to Najaf tomorrow," Hamid al-Khafaf, an al-Sistani aide based
in London, said on Wednesday.
Al-Khafaf called on Iraqis "to be ready … to march on the city of Najaf under the leadership of al-Sistani to save the city."
Iraq's most senior Shia Muslim figure, Iranian-born
al-Sistani has returned from Britain where he had been treated for a
heart condition. Al-Khafaf told Aljazeera that the Ayat Allah had overidden doctors' recommendations not to travel.
Initiative welcomed
Aides of al-Sadr, whose al-Mahdi Army militiamen have
resisted attempts by US-led forces to expel them from the revered Imam
Ali mosque complex, told Aljazeera they welcomed al-Sistani's proposal
to lead marchers to Najaf.
Al-Sadr 's supporters have been besieged for three weeks
"People
welcome the return of his eminence Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani and now
men, women and children, in groups and individually, are heading to the
city of Najaf to lift the siege imposed by the US occupation forces," said Aws al-Khafaji, an al-Sadr's spokesman from the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriya.
Asked
about demands by al-Sistani's aides for Mahdi Army fighters to leave
the shrine, al-Khafaji blamed besieging US-led forces for preventing a
peaceful withdrawl.
"We repeatedly call on a peaceful solution but ... no one can leave the shrine as US
snipers have taken up positions on the roofs of the neighboring
buildings while the shells are falling here and there," said al-Khafaji.
"It is better that the fighting ceases so all those conducting their sit-in can leave safely".
'Silent' claim rejected
Al-Khafaf rejected charges that the Iranian-born
al-Sistani, who has urged his compatriots not to take up arms against
occupation forces, had been curiously silent over the situation in
Najaf.
"It is absolutely incorrect. Despite his serious
illness, his eminence and the team accompanying him were following the
situation in Iraq.
"He has not spared any efforts to end the crisis
peacefully. He has proceeded with contacts there that were not reported
in the media."
Al-Sistani's
propposed march is likely to put al-Sadr's movement under further
pressure to withdraw from the mosque, whose occupation by al-Mahdi Army
militiamen has directly challenged the authority of US-backed interim
Prime Minister Iyyad Allawi.
Top Cleric Looks to Broker Deal in Najaf
By ABDUL HUSSEIN AL-OBEIDI
NAJAF, Iraq (AP - 25 August) - Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric returned
to the country from Britain on Wednesday and his aides called for a
nationwide march to Najaf to end nearly three weeks of fierce
fighting between U.S. forces and Shiite militants in this holy
city.
The announcement came as heavy fighting persisted in Najaf's Old
City. U.S. warplanes fired on the neighborhood, helicopters flew
overhead and heavy gunfire was heard in the streets, witnesses
said.
Iraqi police sealed the area, preventing cars from entering, and
Najaf's police chief, Maj. Gen. Ghalib al-Jazaari, said radical
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia was on its last
legs.
``The Mahdi Army is finished,'' he said. ``Its hours are
numbered.''
Militants were still fighting in the streets of the Old City,
witnesses said, though the relentless American attacks in Najaf
appeared to be weakening them.
Police on Wednesday arrested several al-Sadr aides with
valuables in their possession from the sacred Imam Ali Shrine,
which they control, al-Jazaari said. One of al-Sadr's top
lieutenants, Sheik Ali Smeisim, was among those arrested, police
officials said on condition of anonymity.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani, 73, the nation's top
Shiite cleric, crossed into southern Iraq from Kuwait about midday
in a caravan of sport utility vehicles accompanied by Iraqi police
and national guardsmen, according to an Associated Press reporter
with the convoy. The convoy stopped in the southern city of Basra.
Al-Sistani had been in London for medical treatment since Aug.
6, one day after clashes erupted in Najaf. The cleric wields
enormous influence among Shiite Iraqis and his return could play a
crucial role in stabilizing the crisis.
Al-Sistani would head to Najaf on Thursday ``to stop the
bloodshed,'' said Al-Sayyid Murtadha Al-Kashmiri, an al-Sistani
representative in London. ``Those believers who wish to join him,
let them join.''
The police chief cautioned Iraqis not to come to Najaf, saying
they should await instructions from al-Sistani, ``because their
enemies could cause them a disaster and they could put their lives
in danger.''
In separate violence west of Baghdad, U.S. warplanes and tanks
bombed the volatile city of Fallujah for more than two hours,
killing at least four people and wounding four others, hospital
officials and residents said.
Sunni insurgents based in the city are believed to be
responsible for months of kidnappings, bombings and shooting
attacks against coalition troops, Iraqi forces and civilians.
Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Thomas V. Johnson said Wednesday that
several insurgent ``firing positions ... have been struck this
morning with tank-fire and yes, aircraft were also used against the
targets.''
Hours later, witnesses heard sporadic fighting in northern and
eastern Fallujah.
In recent days, U.S. and Iraqi forces in Najaf tightened a
cordon around the Old City and the neighboring Imam Ali Shrine, the
holiest Shia site in Iraq. U.S. forces shelled militants loyal to
al-Sadr in the Old City on Wednesday and smoke rose into the sky
after U.S. warplanes pummeled the area overnight.
Iraqi forces, accompanying U.S. troops into the Old City Tuesday
for the first time in recent days, moved to within 200 yards of the
Imam Ali Shrine. Both the Iraqi government and the U.S. military
say no military moves are being made without the approval of
interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
The militant force, which once waged fierce battles with U.S.
troops throughout the Old City and Najaf's vast cemetery, seemed
considerably diminished in number and less aggressive Tuesday after
days of U.S. airstrikes and heavy artillery pounding.
Hundreds of insurgents have been spotted leaving Najaf in recent
days, witnesses said. Those that remained appeared to have pulled
back to the area around the shrine, where the fighting Tuesday was
concentrated, U.S. troops said.
Police say al-Sadr, who has not been seen in public for days,
has fled the city.
His aides, however, vigorously denied that, saying al-Sadr was
in a secret hideout here. Regardless, the fiery, charismatic
cleric's absence from the battlefield may have withered his
followers' morale.
Hamed al-Khafaf, an al-Sistani aide, told the Arab satellite
television station Al-Arabiya that al-Sistani ``will lead thousands
of followers on a march to holy Najaf.''
``We call upon all devout Iraqis who follow him'' from all over
the country to be ``on alert to head to holy Najaf under his
leadership,'' al-Khafaf told the station. He said an announcement
on the next steps will be made later.
Abdel Hadi al-Daraji, an al-Sadr spokesman in Baghdad, also
called all Muslims to march on Najaf.
``I call on all my Sunni brothers and also our brothers in all
of Iraq's provinces to immediately head to Najaf and to protect the
shrine,'' he told Al-Arabiya television.
Al-Sistani underwent an angioplasty, a procedure to unblock a
coronary artery, Aug. 13 in London. Al-Kashmiri told the AP the
senior cleric ``is in good health and left the hospital three or
four days ago.''
Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan, addressing Iraqi National Guard
troops in Najaf, said Tuesday that Iraqi forces would head toward
the shrine ``tonight'' to await the signal for a raid or the
capitulation of the militants, but by Wednesday, there was no
indication Iraqi forces had advanced on the religious site.
Shaalan made a similar threat a week ago, saying the government
could raid the shrine to free it of ``its vile occupation.'' The
government later backed down and said it would work for a peaceful
solution.
Any raid on the shrine, the holiest Shiite site in the country,
risked igniting a massive Shiite rebellion throughout Iraq against
the fledgling interim government, already battling a persistent and
bloody Sunni insurgency.
In the southern city of Amarah, clashes between British forces
and al-Sadr militants killed 12 people and injured 22 others, said
Dr. Sa'ad Mahmoud from al-Zahrawi of Zahrawi General Hospital.
The fighting started when militants attacked a British foot
patrol with small arms and fired mortar rounds at a building
housing British troops, residents said.
Lebanese Foreign Ministry officials also said Wednesday that
Lebanese hostage Mohammed Raad, who was kidnapped on Aug. 2, had
been freed by his Iraqi captors and was in the Lebanese Embassy in
Baghdad.
Masked militants had promised to release him in a video aired
Tuesday on the al-Arabiya satellite channel, saying they were
responding to an appeal by The Association of Muslim Scholars, an
influential Sunni Muslim group in Iraq that's believed to have
links to insurgents.
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