Sadr's Militia Blamed for Deadly Shiite-on-Shiite Melee

BAGHDAD, Oct. 6 -- Iraq's most powerful Shiite militia planned and carried out a bloody attack on two of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines in the southern city of Karbala in late August, violence that exposed deep divisions within the Shiite community, according to documents, police and lawmakers involved in investigating the violence.

The fallout from the attack could further splinter Iraq's ruling political alliance and diminish U.S. prospects for bringing stability to Iraq. It also raises troubling questions about the complicity of Iraqi officials with violent militiamen.

The street fighting that broke out in Karbala on Aug. 28 demonstrated that while an escalation of U.S. troops has lessened violence in Baghdad and western Iraq, another conflict is brewing in the south. With British soldiers accelerating their departure from the region, the south is emerging as one of the most vulnerable regions of Iraq.

The battle that day was instigated by members of the Mahdi Army, the militia led by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, when its gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades and rifles from neighboring rooftops down into a crowd of thousands of pilgrims who had gathered between the Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas shrines, according to Karbala police investigative documents and Iraqi officials. Government officials loyal to Sadr and Mahdi Army members denied they were responsible for the violence.

More than 50 people were killed and hundreds were wounded when gunfire, mortar shells and grenades exploded amid the worshipers, who were celebrating the birthday of a Shiite religious icon. It was one of the deadliest days of Shiite-on-Shiite violence of the war.

But the trauma transcended the death toll, exposing deep rivalries among police, militiamen, religious leaders and the politicians vying for supremacy. More than 580 suspects were rounded up. The killings sparked Sadr's public decision to freeze Mahdi Army operations -- a position welcomed by U.S. military commanders.

The details of the violence that day were contested from the beginning. Witnesses described it as clashes between the Mahdi Army and shrine guards, believed to be loyal to the Badr Organization, the armed wing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, a prominent Shiite political party. The Badr group also denied it was to blame.

On Saturday, in an apparent attempt to calm the Shiite south, the leaders of the two militias, Sadr and Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, signed a peace agreement and pledged to work together to avoid bloodshed and confrontation. The document, shown on Iraqi television, stated the need for "protecting and respecting Iraqi blood regardless of the situation or sect," as well as maintaining "friendly feelings and to avoid hatred."

Liwa Smaysim, a top political aide to Sadr, said the pact involved creating joint committees to mediate disputes. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, typically a time for forgiving grievances, played a role in the timing of the pact, he said.

Still, tensions remain high, and the peace, if it exists, fragile. Senior Mahdi Army commanders have complained that their followers have been unfairly targeted in raids and arrests since the violence in August.

"There is no doubt there is a huge pressure on our popular base, so we are trying as best as we can to stop the reactions," Smaysim said. "These arrests were done for political reasons, not for criminal reasons."

The Iraqi government has formed a committee, led by lawmaker Mithal Alousi, to investigate the Karbala violence. The committee has not finished its work, but Alousi said that the Mahdi Army appears to bear most of the responsibility for the attack but that other factions were also involved. The loyalties of security forces in Karbala, including the police, are divided among the Badr Organization, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa party and various Shiite religious leaders, and some push an agenda to seize influence from the Sadr faction, Alousi said.