Al-Sadr calls on supporters to resist U.S.

updated 3:41 p.m. ET March 16, 2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr issued a statement Friday calling on his supporters to resist U.S. forces in Iraq, and a local militia commander blamed an attack against the mayor of Sadr City on a faction unhappy about cooperation with Americans.

"The occupiers want to harm this beloved (Sadr City) and tarnish its name by spreading false rumors and allegations that negotiations and cooperation are ongoing between you and them," Sheik Haider al-Jabri said in reading a statement from al-Sadr to worshippers in the main Shiite district in Baghdad. "I am confident that you will not make concessions to them and will remain above them. Raise your voices in love and brotherhood and unity against your enemy and shout 'No, no America.'"

The statement came a day after gunmen opened fire on the convoy carrying Mayor Rahim al-Darraji in eastern Baghdad, seriously wounding him and killing two of his bodyguards, police and a local official said.

Al-Darraji was the principal negotiator in talks with U.S. officials that led to an agreement to pull Shiite fighters off the streets in Sadr City, a stronghold of the feared Mahdi Army, and a local commander said suspicion fell on a group of disaffected militiamen who are angry about the deal.

"This is a faction that enjoys some weight," the Mahdi Army commander said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Tension within the militia
He said the attack has created tension within the ranks of the militia and renewed debate about allowing the Americans to operate in Sadr City without resistance during a security sweep aimed at ending the sectarian violence that has raged since a Feb. 22, 2006, bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra.

Al-Darraji had also lobbied the Americans to bring reconstruction projects to Sadr City that would create jobs in the impoverished neighborhood. U.S. military commanders have said that could help disarm the largely unemployed men in the Mahdi Army.

One of the dead bodyguards was identified as police Lt. Col. Mohammad Mutashar Al-Freji, a friend of al-Darraji who was politically linked to al-Sadr.

The success in reining in al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which fought fiercely against U.S. forces in 2004, is widely credited with the drop in execution-style killings, random shootings and rocket attacks during the month-old operation, and the attack against al-Darraji cast a shadow on that strategy.

Thousands of al-Sadr supporters also took to the streets after traditional weekly prayer services to protest a joint U.S.-Iraqi base that has been established in the sprawling district in eastern Baghdad as part of the security plan.

Sadrist Sheik Muhannad al-Bahadli condemned what he called "a base for the oppressive occupiers on the land of Sadr City."

"They wanted Iraq to be a model for democracy to be followed by other countries in the region. Look what happened in Iraq after four years of occupation: booby-trapped cars and bombs blowing up and killing Iraqis," he added.

Al-Sadr's whereabouts are unknown since he was reported by the Americans to be absent from Iraq and believed to be in Iran on Feb. 13, a day before the security operation started. The cleric has frequently spoken out against American forces but reportedly gave orders for restraint from his militiamen during the security crackdown.

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