person:muqtada al-sadr

Iraq: Al-Sadr & Communist Party ally against Corruption, Iranian Hegemony
▻https://www.juancole.com/2018/03/communist-corruption-hegemony.html

Nativist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, 44, is encouraging members of his Sadr Movement to vote in the upcoming national elections for parliament. “Vote,” he said, “and save our country from corruption.”
A newly formed political party, al-Istiqama or the Upright Party, will hew the Sadrist line.
There have been reports that Sadr’s party will ally with the Iraqi Communist Party on an anti-sectarian ticket. Both Sadr and the small Communist Party have criticized the spoils system of Iraq where government positions and contracts are doled out according to membership in a sectarian political party.
Both objected vigorously to the statement of Ali Akbar Vilayeti, an adviser to Iran’s clerical Leader Ali Khamenei, on his visit to Baghdad in February that he would not allow the return of liberals, secularists and Communists in Iraq.
It was widely thought that he was criticizing Sadr for his alliance with the Communists and the “civil” or secular movement in Iraq.

Why America Needs #Iran in Iraq - POLITICO Magazine
▻http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/why-america-needs-iran-in-iraq-213865

It’s time for some serious dialogue with Iran about Iraq. The chaos in Baghdad, culminating in the temporary occupation of the parliament by followers of Shiite Islamist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, is undermining the war against the Islamic State, weakening Iraq’s economy, and accelerating the country’s disintegration. Without cooperation between the United States, Iran and Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Sistani, the crisis could very well lead to the collapse of the entire political system set up in Iraq during the temporary U.S. occupation. And that in turn could open the door to permanent occupation by the Islamic State and other violent anti-U.S. terrorist organizations.

To prevent this Washington needs Tehran’s help. And Iran should be as motivated to seek stability as much as Washington because currently it is losing favor in Iraq; [...]

#Irak #Etats-Unis #ISIS

#Muqtada_al-Sadr: We will “shake the ground” under #ISIS
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/muqtada-al-sadr-we-will-shake-ground-under-isis

Powerful Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr vowed late Wednesday to “shake the ground” under the feet of advancing jihadi militants, a week after thousands of his partisans held a military parade in #Baghdad. Sadr, whose movement battled US forces in #Iraq, also voiced opposition to American military advisers meeting with Iraqi commanders combating an offensive that has overrun swathes of five provinces, killed more than 1,100 people, displaced hundreds of thousands and threatens to tear the country apart — ideologically and geographically. read more

#Najaf

Iraqi cleric #Muqtada_al-Sadr announced exit from political scene
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraqi-cleric-muqtada-al-sadr-announced-exit-political-scene

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/234555-01-08.jpg

A picture taken on April 26, 2012 shows Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr speaking during a press conference in the northern Iraqi Kurdish city of Arbil during a visit to #Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region. (Photo: AFP - Safin Hamed)

Powerful Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of a major political movement and a key figure in post-Saddam Iraq, has announced his exit from politics two months before elections. The decision, if confirmed as permanent, brings to a close a political career that began with his fierce opposition to the US military presence in Iraq, and has spanned more than a decade. read (...)

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