By Annisa Essack
01:09:2022

At least 23 people have been killed in some of the worst fighting for years in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, sparked by a critical leader’s decision to quit politics.

Radio Islam International discussed with Iraq’s researcher and analyst, Ruba Ali Al Hassani, who described Muqtada al-Sadr as the boy who cried wolf, saying it is not the first time al-Sadr has resigned from politics, as he has done it several times over the past few years.

She says Al Sadr had his followers storming into the Iraqi parliament over the past few years.

“This is not the first time; last week, he had his followers storming into the high judicial council and threatening the chief of the high judicial council in Iraq, which led to a shutdown of the court system.’ Said Al Hassani.

Al Hassani added that Al Sadr’s resignation came in response to the highest Shia juristic 83-year-old Grand Ayatollah Kadhim al-Haeri’s resignation that cited health issues which did not seem to make sense to many people.

Kadhim al-Haeri is a close associate of al-Sadr’s father and spiritual leader of the Sadrists, who challenged Al Sadr’s right to act as his father’s heir, Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr.

In Haeri’s statement, he called on his followers to emulate Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but that seemed to have provoked Al Sadr, as his resignation came straight after that announcement.

Al Hassani said Al Sadr’s response claimed that the highest juristic had criticised him, delegitimised him as a leader, and insisted that the judiciary in Islam returns to Najaf in Iraq. He clarified that he never sought to be a cleric in his own right; he is just a political leader, but with that said, he said, “I resign”.

She said Al Sadr pushed a domino effect when he resigned, knowing very well that his followers would cause havoc for which he could not take responsibility.

“And when he did that, he pushed a domino effect because usually when he resigns, he does that in advance of an event from which he wants to wash his hands of responsibility. And what happened later in the day is exactly what he did not want responsibility for, the violence that took place in the green zone and other areas of Baghdad, of Basra and other parts of the country,” said Al Hassan.

Al Sadr issued a statement shortly after that violence, and in it again, he acted like he was innocent as he said he was just an average citizen, which we all know he is not.

After that, he spoke about his continuing power and called his followers to stay away from the green zone and drop the weapons, to which they listened and did as he had instructed them.

Al Hassani claimed Al Sadr resigning tactics worked for him when he resurfaced in politics. Also, they show how many loyal followers he has, and he uses that as leverage to his political counterparts, except this time, his part, Iran affiliated, was thinking ahead and baited.

“So his counterparts who are Iran affiliated were likely part of the reason that Haeri resigned, and knowing that this would provoke Moqtada Al Sadr, they waited for him to resign to order his followers and an underhanded way to do something. And they were waiting for him in the green zone and other parts of the city, proclaiming to act in self-defence, but as we have seen two days later, they were not quite in a state of self-defence. They were prepared and waiting. And they claimed that they did not engage in violence in the green zone. But today, we say they’re holding funerals for their fallen men. So, Moqtada Al Sadr lost some of his leverage, and I am curious to see what will happen next,” she said.

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