The Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr back in Iraq after four year hiatus

He is both revered and reviled Shiite disadvantaged American authorities. After four years spent abroad, the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr returned home, Wednesday, Jan. 5, to the cheers of hundreds of his supporters gathered in his stronghold of Najaf. "This is not just a visit. It will remain at Najaf, 150 kilometers south of the capital, said an official of his powerful political movement, the Sadrist current, recalling that his boss had left Iraq the end of 2006.

He has resided in recent years in Iran, where he attended religious studies, according to its supporters. In the afternoon, the young chef who is in his thirties, wearing a black turban typical of Sayyid - or descendants of the Prophet - visited the mausoleum of Imam Ali, one of the places Shiism's holiest, surrounded by bodyguards.

He then had to visit the Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the most influential Shiite cleric in Iraq, an official of his movement. Moqtada Sadr was created in 2003 by the Mahdi Army, a militia long considered the most powerful in Iraq with 60,000 men, and who has repeatedly confronted the U.S.

military in bloody revolts. The Pentagon in 2006 saw the Mahdi Army as one of the greatest threats to stability in Iraq. He had declared in August 2008 a permanent cessation of operations by the Mahdi Army, a year after announcing a unilateral ceasefire a year, met with the exception of fighting in spring 2008.

However, the U.S. authorities still devote a deep mistrust. Moqtada Sadr remains at the head of a major political group on the Iraqi arena, benefiting from 39 out of 325 MPs in Parliament and six ministers in government. The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Qusay Abdul Wahab al-Suha, is also derived from its ranks.

After the legislative elections of March 2010, the Sadrist movement has long opposed the retention of power by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, accusing him of having launched such a military campaign against the Mahdi Army in 2008. But it relented in May, and this support was crucial to allow Maliki to remain in power.

• Iraq: Preparing for the Return of Moqtada al-Sadr (21/12/2010)
• Iraq: Preparing for the Return of Moqtada al-Sadr (21/12/2010)
• Men in black (22/12/2010)
• Violence fears after Mehdi army release (22/12/2010)
• US cable describes controversial Saddam execution (06/12/2010)

Muqtada al-Sadr (wikipedia)  Iraq (geolocation)  Iraq (wikipedia)