"I feel like I am in a race against time with the terrorists," he said, "and I think we're winning the battle."
"Absolutely," he added.
A man kisses Saghir at the Baratha mosque after his 2003 return. How he fares in politics could help clarify the Shiite clergy's still-ambiguous role.
(AP Television News Photo)
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But some question his modesty -- including other Shiite clerics, who, like him, are expected to disavow ambition. They see him as an opportunistic politician, capitalizing on his ties with the main Shiite party, his platform at the Baratha mosque and his perceived relationship with Sistani, whose influence is unparalleled among devout Shiites in Iraq.
Some of Saghir's detractors view him as a product of the Iraqi opposition that spent much of Hussein's era in exile. In those years, groups such as the Supreme Council were organized along explicitly sectarian or religious lines.
"He's very ambitious," said Salah Ubaidi, a cleric who remained in Iraq during Hussein's rule. "This sometimes puts him in embarrassing positions. He does not have enough flexibility to fulfill these ambitions."
Many Sunni politicians recoil at Saghir's language -- to them, evidence that they can expect second-class status in a Shiite-dominated state.
"He's one of the guys pushing the situation toward the extreme," said Saleh Mutlak, who leads a small, largely Sunni Arab party. "He's very biased, very aggressive, and the way he speaks is only going to deteriorate things between Iraqis."
Saghir shakes his head at the thought. He casts his eyes down and speaks slowly, almost wearily.
"If they want to reconcile, they should send me a message of peace," he said. "They should not send me a car bomb."
His tone softens, becoming almost reassuring.
"As long as Shiites maintain their discipline, there will be no civil war," he says. "We have a great storehouse of patience."
But, in words that were part prediction, part threat, he added, "What is right in the end will triumph."
