Sadr group responds with clinched fist

Eli Lake:

The U.S. is reaching out to followers of a key Shi'ite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia once battled U.S. troops and who remains a powerful leader, particularly among Iraq's urban poor.

A top Sadrist political leader in Baghdad, Qusay al-Suhail, told The Washington Times that he and his colleagues have been approached five times in the last five months by emissaries seeking to arrange meetings with senior U.S. military and civilian officials at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

"Yes, the Americans tried to talk to me and other Sadrists several times," Mr. al-Suhail said. "They try to talk to us as individuals, but we made it clear that there is no use to talking to us when you are an occupying power."

Two U.S. officials familiar with the outreach efforts confirmed that the U.S. Embassy is trying to reach an understanding with the Sadrists, who represent one of the largest factions among Iraq's Shi'ite majority and have legions of followers in a Baghdad slum known as Sadr City.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the topic, said that in return for a political understanding, they are willing to release, in coordination with the Iraqi government, thousands of Sadrist prisoners.

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The U.S. outreach effort is intended to help stabilize Iraq as the U.S. draws down its forces and to prevent the Sadr movement from turning into a replica of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese group, which has veto power over government actions and maintains a powerful militia separate from the Lebanese national army.

One U.S. military official familiar with the effort said the United States has an interest in making sure the Sadrist faction does not replicate Hezbollah by maintaining both a political party and a militia simultaneously. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

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The Sadrist are religious bigots who have more loyalty to Iran than Iraq. It is a waste of CO2 to talk with them. There objection to the US as an occupying party is part of their religious bigotry. If they want to have serious discussions they know how to get in touch. We should be telling theri followers that are in detention that their leaders are keeping them there by refusing to talk.