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Firebrand Sadr finds moderation
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| Contributor | kal |
| Last Edited | kal Mar 24, 2008 07:51am |
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| Category | General |
| Media | TV News - British Broadcasting Corporation BBC News |
| News Date | Monday, March 24, 2008 01:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | By recently renewing a six-month ceasefire, the young Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has won praise from the United States and from the Baghdad government.
But will his new-found moderation last?
Mr Sadr has long kept people guessing.
In the early days after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, he was often dismissed as a naive young firebrand.
President George W Bush once described his militia, the Mehdi Army, as a "band of thugs".
But Patrick Cockburn of the Independent newspaper, author of a forthcoming book about the cleric, thinks the Americans have consistently underestimated him.
Political struggle
Mr Cockburn regards him as the leader of the only genuine mass movement in Iraq - made up of tens of thousands of impoverished young Shia in southern Iraq and in the sprawling Baghdad suburb of Sadr City.
He also believes the young cleric learns from his mistakes.
Twice in 2004 the Sadrist movement rose up in revolt against the American presence in Iraq.
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