Radical Iraqi to shun politics during 'occupation'

NAJAF, Iraq — Scores of supplicants filed slowly past Muqtada al-Sadr, kissing his hands in a show of loyalty to this fiery young anti-American cleric who has created one of the most dynamic religious and political movements in Iraq.

But despite the support he enjoys, al-Sadr told The Associated Press in a rare interview he would steer clear of Iraqi politics as long as U.S. troops remain in the country and warned that the current government legitimizes the occupation instead of preparing for its end.

"As long as the occupier is here, I will not interfere in the political process," he said, adjusting himself on a brown cushion lying on the floor of a long hallway. "I would like to condemn and denounce the last Iraqi government's decision to legalize the occupation. Legalizing the occupation is rejected from any angle."

Holed up for nearly a year in his maroon-colored home in one of this Shiite holy city's upscale neighborhoods, the 32-year-old seminary student has used deft diplomacy and backstage maneuvering to quietly but methodically build a power base across the country.

On a hot Sunday in dusty Najaf, at least 200 men lined up to be searched inside a tent before being admitted into the small house with a rose garden and courtyard with a date palm — modest for a man of his standing. No weapons were in sight.

Speaking of the desecration of the Quran by U.S. troops and interrogators in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, al-Sadr said, "God willing, whenever the tyranny's blows increase in frequency, our own courage and strength increase, too." It was his only direct reference to the U.S. military his followers battled last year.

Al-Sadr vanished from public view after deadly streets battles between his militia — the Imam al-Mahdi Army — and U.S. forces in Baghdad, Najaf and a string of towns across central and southern Iraq. In Najaf during August alone, at least 12 U.S. troops were killed in those battles.

He also has an outstanding arrest warrant over his alleged role in the murder of a rival cleric in Najaf two years ago.

His movement has its roots in the 1990s when his father Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, a powerful Shiite cleric, defied Saddam Hussein. The senior al-Sadr was killed by suspected Saddam agents in a 1999 spray of gunfire.

The son inherited a network of schools and charities built by his father, and his supporters, mostly seminary students, resurfaced after Saddam's fall, organizing local charities and vigilante groups in Shiite areas.