A Day When Mahdi Army Showed Its Other Side

In interviews, residents said they did not see Iraqi army units entering Sadr City after the bombings. Nor were there any American soldiers, they said. Members of Iraq's majority Shiite police force were working hand in hand with the militiamen, residents said. "Eighty percent of them are the people who fight the Americans when they come," Abid said. "I haven't seen any Iraqi troops. I heard Iraqi troops were in other areas, but only setting up checkpoints and not helping move the wounded and the dead."

On Friday morning, Mahdi Army and Sadr officials arranged a massive funeral procession to the southern holy city of Najaf, the burial ground for Shiites. The militiamen secured the highway from Baghdad to Najaf, a road on which criminal gangs often prey on travelers. Most of the funeral expenses were paid by Sadr's office.

The Mahdi Army "had a very respectful position, and they were with us throughout the whole thing," said Ali Abu Karar, who came to Najaf to bury his 16-year-old cousin, Ammar. "We arrived here, and we found every thing ready and the graves already dug."

More than 100 people helped dig graves, said one of the volunteers, Abu Mustafa, adding that Sadr had given the order. "Now the coffins are arriving, and whatever the people need we have orders to provide it to them," he said.

Over the weekend, groups of Sadr officials and Mahdi Army militiamen visited the relatives of victims in large funeral tents erected in front of their houses, a tradition across Iraq. They brought food and envelopes of money, Fartoosi said.

They promised the families of the dead and wounded that Sadr's office would give them financial support, food and clothing in the coming months. "And because of the bad conditions of the hospitals in the city, the Sadr office will be providing medicines, medical equipment like needles, syringes, to those who cannot afford it," Fartoosi said. "We give them respect so they feel someone is taking care of them."

Now, like many militiamen, Fartoosi is certain the Mahdi Army cannot be dismantled.

"It is not possible to disarm the Mahdi Army because these weapons we are using are to defend the innocent people and not to kill the innocent, to help the persecuted people against the persecutors," he said. "I would not hand over my gun to Maliki, or to that damned Bush, even if they ask me to."

Special correspondent Saad Sarhan in Najaf contributed to this report.