Shiite Militia May Be Disintegrating

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr delivers a Friday sermon, in a Mosque, in Kufa, Iraq, Friday Sept. 22, 2006. The violent Shiite militia known as the Mahdi Army is splintering, with up to 3,000 gunmen now funded directly by Iran and no longer loyal to al-Sadr. Two commanders tell The Associated Press that hundreds have crossed into Iran for training by the elite Quds commandos _ an ominous development at a time when U.S. forces and the Iraqi government are struggling to get sectarian groups to lay down their arms. By Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra. (AP Photo/Alaa Al-Marjani) (Alaa Al-marjani - AP)

Commanders thought to have disobeyed Mahdi Army orders or abused their power are publicly renounced during Friday prayers, a move that has forced them to quit their posts or go into hiding.

Mahdi Army militiamen also could be attracted by the cash promises of the splinter group. They don't receive wages or weapons from al-Sadr, but are allowed to generate income by charging government contractors protection money when they work in Shiite neighborhoods.

The two Mahdi Army commanders blamed several recent attacks on U.S. forces in eastern Baghdad on the splinter group. The commanders also said they believed the breakaway force had organized the attempt last week to kill Rahim al-Darraji, the mayor of Sadr City.

Al-Darraji, who is close to the Sadrist movement, was involved in talks with the U.S. military about extending the five-week-old Baghdad security sweep into Sadr City, the Mahdi Army stronghold in eastern Baghdad that was a no-go zone for American forces until about three weeks ago.

Al-Darraji was seriously wounded and two of his bodyguards were killed when gunmen ambushed their convoy in a mainly Shiite district near Sadr City. There was no claim of responsibility.

The commanders said recruitment of Mahdi Army gunmen by Iran began as early as 2005. But it was dramatically stepped up in recent months, especially with the approach of the U.S.-Iraqi security operation which was highly advertised before it began Feb. 14. Many Mahdi Army fighters are believed to have crossed the border to escape arrest.

Calls by the AP to seek comment from the Iranian Foreign Ministry have not been returned.

The Iranian recruitment of the Mahdi Army fighters appears to be an extension of its efforts to exert influence in Iraq, in part to keep the U.S. bogged down in a war that already has stretched into its fifth year. Iran already has the allegiance of the Badr Brigade, a Shiite militia founded and trained in Iran in the 1980s that maintains close links to Iraq's ruling Shiite politicians.

The Bush administration has carefully not ruled out military action against Iran, but the war in Iraq keeps U.S. ground forces at least stretched thin.

__

Associated Press military writer Robert Burns contributed to this report from Washington.