Iraq Adviser: Al-Sadr in Iran

A woman passes by a billboard depicting anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, right, and his father, Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, in Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City, Iraq, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2007. Conflicting reports emerged over the whereabouts of Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia have been blamed in some of the worst sectarian killings in the past year, after a U.S. official said the radical Shiite cleric had fled the country ahead of the new security operation. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) (Karim Kadim - AP)

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An adviser to Iraq's prime minister said Thursday that radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is in Iran, but denied he fled due to fear of arrest during an escalating security crackdown. Sami al-Askari said al-Sadr traveled to Iran by land "a few days ago," but gave no further details on how long he would stay. A member of al-Sadr's bloc in parliament, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals, said he left three weeks ago.

"I confirm that Muqtada al-Sadr is in Iran on a visit," said al-Askari. "But I deny that his visit is a flight."

Another lawmaker loyal to al-Sadr, Saleh al-Ukaili, insisted that al-Sadr is in Iraq and claimed the accounts of his departure were part of a "campaign by the U.S. military" to track down the elusive cleric.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have increased pressure on backers of the anti-American cleric and other militants in a major security operation that began in force this week. Conflicting reports on al-Sadr's whereabouts have been exchanged for days.

In Iran, there was no word from the government or media on al-Sadr's whereabouts. The brother of the cleric regarded as al-Sadr's spiritual mentor, Grand Ayatollah Kazem al-Hosseini al-Haeri, said he did not know if the Iraqi leader had crossed the border.

"We have had no contact with him for a long time," said Mohammad Hossein Haeri, speaking on the phone from the Iranian holy city of Qom. There has reportedly been friction between al-Haeri and al-Sadr in recent years.

The chief U.S. military spokesman, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, said al-Sadr "is not in the country" and that "all indications are, in fact, that he is in Iran." Caldwell said U.S. authorities have been tracking al-Sadr's movements for months. He would not speculate on whether al-Sadr fled to escape the crackdown.

It was not immediately clear whether al-Sadr's absence will lead to divisions among his loyalists, which include the Mahdi Army militia that has close ties to Iran. A splintering of his forces could lead to the emergence of smaller gangs vying for power among Iraq's Shiite majority.

But the mercurial al-Sadr, who is not believed to have visited Baghdad in more than two years, often drops out of public view for weeks or months at a time. He failed to turn up for a planned speech Monday in the southern city of Najaf, where he lives, and has not been seen in public since Jan. 3.

He is believed to sleep in a different location every night to guard against attack.

When al-Sadr preaches at a mosque in Kufa, a town near Najaf, his security officers send out decoy convoys to confuse would-be attackers. His main fear is said to be an attack by rival Shiites, but he is also worried about the Americans and assassins hired by Sunni religious extremists who consider Shiites to be heretics.

Al-Sadr's militia is widely believed to receive Iranian money and weapons, but his relations with Tehran are not as close as are those of some Kurdish and Shiite parties allied with the Americans.