NAJAF, Iraq — Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, a fierce opponent of the United States and head of Iraq’s most feared militia, came home Wednesday after nearly four years of self-imposed exile in Iran, welcomed by hundreds of cheering supporters in a return that solidifies the rise of his movement.
Al-Sadr’s presence in Iraq ensures he will be a powerful voice in Iraqi politics as U.S. forces leave the country. He left Iraq in 2007 somewhat as a renegade, a firebrand populist whose militiamen battled U.S. troops and Iraqi forces. He returns a more legitimized figure, leading an organized political movement that is a vital partner in the new government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Al-Sadr can wield a bully pulpit to put strong pressure on al-Maliki — and is likely to demand that no U.S. troops remain beyond their scheduled final withdrawal date at the end of this year.
His return caused trepidation among many Iraqis, particularly Sunnis, who remember the sectarian killings carried out by his militia, the Mahdi Army. They believe he is a tool of Iran.
But supporters were jubilant.
“He is our hero. He said ‘No’ to the Americans and fought the Americans, and he is brave,” said Mohammed Ali, among the crowds who turned out to greet al-Sadr in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, south of Baghdad.
Al-Sadr has legions of followers among Iraq’s poor, who see him as a champion of their rights against the Sunnis, who dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein, as well as other Shiite political parties such as al-Maliki’s Dawa Party, which represents more of the Shiite middle class.
Al-Sadr has not been seen publicly in Iraq since 2007 when he left to study Islam in Qom, Iran, the seat of Shiite education, as a way to burnish his religious credentials. He also faced an arrest warrant for his alleged role in the killing of a rival Shiite cleric.
