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Reports From Iraq > Tue., May 4, 2004
Killing the Followers of Sadr
Two senior Sheiks are carried into the revered shrine
of Imam Ali shrine in Najaf a day after they being shot
in the head by the US military while attending a meeting
in the office of the Babylon Human Rights Association. |
by Aaron Glantz
NAJAF, IRAQ -- Dozens of followers of Muqtada al-Sadr sing
songs of martyrdom as they carry the coffins of two of their
slain comrades into the shrine of the revered Imam Ali in
the Iraqi Holy City, Najaf. Every night, Sadr's fighters engage
in pitched battle with the US military which has placed its
tanks and soldiers just outside the city limits. But that's
not where these men died. These two coffins bear the bodies
of senior Sheiks, Methen al-Khzoni and Satchit al-Mahawli,
the second a descendent of the prophet Mohammed -- and the
way they were killed can tell you a lot about the patterns
and practice of the American occupation.
In the small town of Hilla, an hour's drive South of Baghdad,
a wall in the office of the Babylon Human Rights Organization
is covered in blood. It was here that American soldiers raided
a community meeting -- where they killed the two Sheiks and
arrested two other important community leaders.
"All types of power was represented," explains
Sayyed Fadel al-Mousawie explains. "The political parties
and scientists and religious men. They were trying to figure
out what's happening around us. They were discussing everything
that was happening in Hilla. They were studying what's happening
in our country."
The main goal of the meeting, according to representatives
of the Human Rights Organization, was how to confront the
American occupation without resorting to violence. ... It
was a regular topic of discussion at this organization, which
was well-known to American officials. A few months before,
hawkish Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowicz had visited
the Human Rights Organization to praise its efforts. But there
seems to be different relationship now. The groups's Hazen
al-Safi was proud to have a photo showing him and Wolfowicz
shaking hands, but he has a different feeling now .
"We were peaceful," he tells Pacifica. "We
just had pens and paper, but they came with a whole bunch
of arms."
Hazen says 15 American soldiers ordered everyone down on
the ground and ran to the podium to arrest the speaker Sayyed
Adnan Onaibi, the head of Muqtada al-Sadr's office in Hilla.
They placed a black hood over his head and then, Hazen says
the American soldiers turned their attention to two Sheiks
in a nearby hallway
"They shot them in the head," Hazem says. "They
shot him them right where they were standing and you can see
from the blood that they shot them from just one or two meters
away."
The bullets that killed the two Sheiks were the only shots
fired in the Human Rights office. The only bullet holes in
the hall are amidst a blood-splattered wall where the two
Shieks were shot. Fragments of the two Sheiks brains can still
be seen on the floor corroborating claims they were shot in
the head.
Meantime, the head of the local office of Muqtada al-Sadr,
Adnan Onaibi, has disappeared into US custody. Troops at the
local military base, which is maintained by Poland, told Pacifica
they didn't know anything about the raid. The headquarters
of the occupation Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad
explained it will take them 10 days to tell us where he has
been taken.
Prison is nothing new for Adnan Onaibi, who was jailed for
a year by Saddam Hussein for giving a critical sermon in Friday
prayers.
"Adnan was hoping that America would liberate us from
Saddam and he was happy in that time because he was tortured
so much by the regime. He was put in prison by Saddam because
he was against the government."
The arrests and killings of Sadr's leaders in Hilla comes
at a time of fighting in Najaf, the holiest city of Shia Islam.
Every night, members of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army clash
with US troops just a few miles away from the shrine of revered
Imam Ali. Last night 20 members of the Mehdi Army died in
clashes. They likely don't be the last. Adem Zohr left his
house in Mosul to come fight the Americans in Najaf. He also
left behind his wife and his 6 month old baby.
"We believe in God," he says. "God creates
us and God takes us back. So if we are protecting our religion
we will be taken to the sacred place. So we can do anything.
I will follow my orders. Whether it is bombing or killing.
Anything."
At the same time, it seems, both sides continue to look for
a way out of the current stand-off. Akil Abdul-Munaf, Zwein
has been negotiating with American military commanders on
behalf of Muqtada Sadr.
"The Chiefs of all the area tribes are in these negotiations,"
he notes. "One conditioned asked for by Muqtada al-Sadr
is to remove the American troops from Najaf because it holds
the sacred shrine of Imam Ali peace be upon him."
In addition to a complete American withdraw from Najaf and
Kufa, Sadr's supporters demand their leader not be arrested
or killed by occupation troops. They further demand his fate
be given over to a legitimate Iraqi government. In exchange,
Muqtada al-Sadr is willing to agree to stop killing foreign
troops on Iraqi soil.
It's now up to the Bush Administration to accept or reject
the offer.
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