Al-Sadr Associates Dispute U.S. Claim

The radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, gestures while delivering a Friday sermon in Iraq in this 2006 file photo. Al-Sadr has fled Iraq for Iran ahead of a security crackdown in Baghdad and President Bush's announced influx of 21,500 U.S. troops, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alaa Al-Marjani, FILE) (Alaa Al-marjani - AP)

WASHINGTON -- Associates of the anti-American cleric whose militia has twice fought U.S. forces in Iraq insist that he has not left the country in advance of a security crackdown, responding to a U.S. report that he has fled Baghdad and is belived to be in Iran.

Muqtada al-Sadr is believed to be in Tehran, where he has family, a U.S. official said Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. monitoring activities.

The official said fractures in al-Sadr's political and militia operations may be part of the reason for his departure. The move is not believed to be permanent, the official said.

The U.S. report on al-Sadr's departure coincides with an announcement that Iraq will close its borders with Iran and Syria for 72 hours as part of the drive to end the violence that has threatened to divide the capital along sectarian lines.

In Baghdad, officials linked to al-Sadr denied that the reclusive cleric had fled the country.

A close aide who meets regularly with him said al-Sadr was not in Tehran. The aide said the U.S. report probably stems from a campaign by al-Sadr's people to put out false information about his movements amid fears he will be detained by U.S.-led forces. The cleric also is sleeping in different places each night, the aide said.

An official in al-Sadr's main office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf said the cleric had decided not to appear publicly during the current month of Muharam, one of four holy months in the Islamic calendar.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to disclose the information.

Lawmaker Nassar al-Rubaie, head of Sadrist bloc in parliament, also denied the U.S. report.

"The news was not accurate because Muqtada al-Sadr is still in Iraq and he did not visit any country," al-Rubaie told The Associated Press.

The U.S. official said it is not clear how firmly the radical Shiite cleric is controlling his organization and the associated Mahdi Army militia.

"The question for us is to what extent his organization is going to participate in the political process," the official said, referring to al-Sadr's on-again, off-again relationship with the fragile democratic government in Baghdad.