Rebel Shiite Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr vowed on Wednesday to carry on fighting the United States-led occupying forces and die a martyr, saying he will not disband his Mehdi Army militia unless religious authorities demand it.
“We are ready for any US escalation and don’t expect otherwise from the American occupation,” he said at a press conference in the shrine to Imam Ali, the holiest place in Shiite Islam.
“My desire is to die a martyr in this country.”
But al-Sadr said he is peace-loving and asked the American people to understand his desire for independence and freedom for his country.
“If you were in my place you would do the same, fight the occupation, kick them out, fight for independence,” he said.
He told his militia currently engaging US-led forces in the Shiite holy city of Karbala they are “heroes” and added: “Be brave and fight and don’t let the occupier defile the sanctity of your city.”
“Disbanding the Mehdi Army is a decision that has to be made by the high Shiite religious authority,” al-Sadr said, distancing himself from any mediation or negotiation efforts to end his rebellion.
Shiite leaders earlier said they have agreed on a seven-point plan to end the fighting between the Mehdi Army and the coalition, which has shaken Najaf, Karbala and other cities of southern Iraq.
The plan was announced after tribal, religious and political leaders ended more than four hours of talks with al-Sadr’s key deputies on Tuesday in Najaf, and Sadr’s spokesperson said “a deal was reached on all controversial points”.
Mohammed Mussawi, of the Islamic Action Organisation, said the plan, which still has to be approved by the coalition, received the green light from Najaf’s senior ayatollahs on Wednesday.
He said the plan includes the formation of a civil defence force of local inhabitants answerable to the governor and the transformation of the Mehdi Army into a political organisation.
But Abdul Karim al-Aneezi of an offshoot of the main Shiite Dawa Party called the Mehdi Army “a popular, social and ideological movement, and not a militia”.
The plan also provides for a withdrawal of coalition forces from around the Shiite holy cities and a postponement of legal action against al-Sadr, whom the Americans want to try for the killing of a rival cleric, until an elected Iraqi government is in power.
“US troops must withdraw from inside the cities and give guarantees that they will never enter them again,” Aneezi said, adding that the coalition must also release prisoners captured during the conflict with al-Sadr.
Aneezi said the main Shiite parties, including Dawa and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which are both represented on the US-appointed governing council, as well as tribal leaders, had joined in drawing up the plan.
Al-Sadr on Tuesday made a conditional offer to end more than a month of clashes with US-led forces in Iraq after coming under pressure from Shiite leaders and a continuing military offensive.
The US military said it has offered a “window” to allow negotiations to end the weeks of fighting that have left scores of militiamen dead at al-Sadr strongholds in Baghdad and Shiite cities to the south.
Major fighting broke out early last month after al-Sadr led an insurrection when his newspaper was closed down by the coalition and a key lieutenant was arrested.
Since then his forces have taken over holy sites in Najaf, nearby Kufa and Karbala, and also battled coalition troops in Basra and other southern cities. — Sapa-AFP
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