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FOR MOST OF August, Iraq was convulsed by the conflict in
Najaf. A second attempt by US forces, backed by the stooge Allawi government, to
smash Moqtada al-Sadr and the Mahdi army, brought three weeks of intense,
brutally destructive fighting in Najaf, where al-Sadr’s militia seized control
of the Imam Ali shrine. Al-Sadr’s resistance sparked uprisings in at least seven
other cities in the Shia south of the country.
The fighting ended on 26 August, with the intervention of
the Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani, previously absent in London for medical
treatment. Al-Sadr’s forces were allowed to disperse, ready to fight another
day. Scores of civilians were killed in the conflict, many hundreds wounded. The
old city of Najaf now resembles Stalingrad after the 1943 siege. Far from
strengthening the US occupation or the Allawi government, the assault on al-Sadr’s
forces has strengthened the resistance throughout Iraq. All the political
tensions remain. Once again, reconstruction has taken second place to further
destruction.
The Siege of Najaf
For three weeks, Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi army fought fierce
street battles with US forces in Najaf. US troops were unable for political
reasons to attack their base in the Imam Ali shrine – the holiest site for Shia
Islam. Al-Sadr’s defiant stand has brought him new supporters, mainly from the
poorest sections. Meanwhile the stooge government of Ayad Allawi looks
increasingly weak. LYNN WALSH reports on recent developments in Iraq.
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