The U.S. command in Baghdad said yesterday radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr remains in Iran, amid speculation he is conferring with Tehran’s leaders as well as seeking safe haven.
“We will acknowledge that he is not in the country and all indications are in fact that he is in Iran,” Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, chief military spokesman in Baghdad, told reporters. He declined to speculate on why al-Sadr traveled to Iran, a Shiite ally who the U.S. says has supplied al-Sadr’s Mahdi army with cash, training and weapons.
The Examiner reported in Wednesday’s editions that al-Sadr went to Iran in late January. His exit came after President Bush announced a surge of U.S. troops. The reinforcements are part of a counter-insurgency offensive that is designed to eliminate al-Sadr’s militia, which is carrying out most of the murderous attacks on rival Sunnis in greater Baghdad.
A military source told The Examiner on Monday that al-Sadr’s presence in Iran has been discussed at Pentagon planning meetings. The conjecture is that he is talking strategy on how to blunt the new coalition move.
The source said it was unclear this week whether al-Sadr had returned to his headquarters in Najaf, south of Baghdad. Al-Sadr has not appeared publicly in weeks.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose is supported by al-Sadr’s slate of parliament members, has promised to disband Mahdi army as part of the surge of 21,500 new U.S. troops to Iraq.
Nassar al-Rubaie, a member of Sadr’s parliament bloc, denied to The Associated Press Wednesday that his leader went to Iran. “The news is not accurate because Muqtada al-Sadr is still in Iraq, and he did not visit any country,” Rubaie said.
Al-Sadr’s long-range goal is to force the U.S. out of Iraq, freeing him to try to impose Shiite rule similar to Iran’s hardline regime.
Michael Ledeen, an analyst at the American Enterprise Institute who tracks Iran, said Tehran summons al-Sadr from time to time to give him orders.
“They would have called him,” Ledeen said. “He goes when they call him. He’s not an independent actor.”
On whether the current coalition offensive will work, Ledeen said, “I think everything depends on whether we are serious about challenging Iran. If we’re not challenging Iran, and the people in Iraq see we are not serious about attacking Iran, then things are unlikely to change dramatically.”
The U.S. command Sunday presented evidence that Iran has inserted its al Qods special agents into Iraq to aid in attacks on American troops.
