BAGHDAD — In offering to help Iraqi security forces fight insurgents after a wave of deadly bombings in the capital, an anti-American Shiite cleric is sending a clear signal to the government: If you don’t protect us, we’ll protect ourselves.
Muqtada al-Sadr’s statement raised the fearful specter that he might be considering reactivating his once-powerful militia known as the Mahdi Army, a move that would play into al-Qaeda in Iraq’s efforts to spark sectarian war.
Al-Sadr’s aides, however, insisted Saturday that the cleric wasn’t threatening to send armed men onto the streets but was offering to help the government forces, who have been criticized for failing to protect the people as U.S. troops pull back.
The move comes as al-Sadr seeks to consolidate political power among Iraq’s Shiites after a strong showing by his followers in March 7 parliamentary elections. The cleric, an opponent of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, has emerged as a power broker who could play a key role in deciding the country’s next leader.
Hours after bombs targeting Shiite mosques around Baghdad killed dozens of worshipers Friday, al-Sadr urged his followers to remain calm and do nothing to prompt U.S. forces to remain in Iraq any longer than their planned withdrawal deadline at the end of 2011.
But he added that he was prepared to provide “hundreds of believers” to join the Iraqi army and police to defend “their shrines, mosques, prayers, markets, houses and their towns.”
He did not directly mention the Mahdi Army, which fought pitched battles with American forces and was blamed in some of the worst sectarian bloodshed before it was routed by U.S.-Iraqi offensives in 2008.
An Iraqi government spokesman did not return calls seeking comment Saturday. But al-Maliki’s senior aide, Ali al-Adeeb, expressed doubt that the government would accept al-Sadr’s offer.
