Shiite Clerics' Rivalry Deepens In Fragile Iraq

After the invasion, as a Shiite religious revival blossomed, Iraq's clerics saw themselves as the caretakers of the nation's Islamic identity. They were as concerned about American power and ambitions for Iraq as they were about the importation of a decadent Western culture. Many refused to deal with U.S. officials, preferring to preserve their status as outsiders, a tactic that reaps immense rewards today from a population that is increasingly disenchanted with the United States.

"There's no necessity to meet the Americans," said Beirut-based Hamid al-Khafaf, the chief spokesman for Sistani. He added that Sistani favored peaceful resistance to end the U.S. occupation.

Hakim and Sadr approached the Americans differently. Hakim joined the 25-seat Iraqi Governing Council set up by the interim U.S. administration of L. Paul Bremer. Through his involvement in the government and his allegiance to Sistani, Hakim built up his power base.

Sadr went to war against U.S. forces, launching two major uprisings in the spring and summer of 2004 in the southern holy city of Najaf. Soon, Hakim and Sadr turned on each other. In Iraq's Shiite-dominated south, Sadr's militias have attacked the offices of Hakim's party, SCIRI, and fought with his forces.

Today, the control Hakim's armed wing, the Badr Organization, exerts over Karrada is dwindling. Since the February bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra, which triggered an ongoing cycle of revenge killings, Sadr's Mahdi Army has pushed into mixed Shiite and Sunni neighborhoods across Baghdad. In recent months, it has arrived in Karrada, its stated goal to protect Shiite brethren from Sunni Arab insurgents.

'Pouring Their Poison In'

Inside the Sayyed Idris mosque, a large shrine in Karrada with an ornate blue-and-yellow tiled minaret, Haji Abbas al-Zubaidi is a witness to this changing world.

For years, the picture of Hakim's white-bearded brother, Ayatollah Mohammed Bakir Hakim, who was killed by a car bomb in 2003, hung in the mosque's library along with images of Sistani and a collection of revered Shiite saints. Now, pictures of Sadr and his father hang along with them.

Baghdad's sectarian strife now rules Zubaidi's life. In recent weeks, car bombs and mass kidnappings have rocked his neighborhood. Zubaidi, who has lived in Karrada for 35 years, sees the Mahdi Army, not the Badr Organization, as his main source of protection. It has created "popular protection committees" that watch over blocks, as they do in the Mahdi Army's stronghold of Sadr City.

"The terrorists are pouring their poison into our neighborhood," said Zubaidi, slim with long, slender fingers and a narrow face, as he sat on a large red carpet inside the mosque. "The sons of Karrada who have joined the popular committees and the Mahdi Army are now 98 percent in control. We have noticed that many of the attempts have been foiled."

Zubaidi and other educated Karrada residents continue to obey Sistani's pacifist vision and view him as their preeminent leader. But younger Shiites, while still revering Sistani, have switched their allegiances.

"We imitate and follow Sayyed Sistani," said Zubaidi, using an honorific for Sistani. "As for the field commanders and the young men, they are followers of Moqtada Sadr."

As the militancy grew, U.S. officials viewed Sistani as the most influential voice of moderation in Iraq. A gray-bearded, Iranian-born cleric in Najaf whose pronouncements carried the force of law, he stepped in with calming statements at momentous points in Iraq's post-invasion history. One Sistani appeal ended Sadr's last rebellion against U.S. forces.