Another Shiite Cleric Assassinated

Above: Riyadh al-Nouri assasinated

Riyadh al-Nouri, director of al-Sadr’s office in Najaf, was assassinated by yet an unknown number of gunmen near his home.

Muqtada al-Sadr blamed the Americans and the U.S.-backed Iraqi government for the killing.

In his statement Friday, al-Sadr blamed the killing on “the hands of the occupiers and their stooges reaching out traitorously and aggressively against our dear martyr.”

But ironically, the Shiite leader called for calm.

“I call upon Sadrist followers to be patient.”

Even though we all know that there will be retaliation, their numbers are simply limited and most of his Mahdi Army are already fighting U.S. and Iraqi troops in Baghdad and southern Iraq. Their leader has been under extreme pressure from all Iraqi political parties to disband their army.

“The occupiers will not rest in our land as long as I am alive,” said al-Sadr. “We demand the government open an investigation and punish the criminals. We call upon all political and religious groups to work toward ending the killing of clerics.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, also a Shiite and now a sworn enemy of al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army, condemned “this savage crime” and ordered an investigation “to pursue and arrest the killers.”

The same kind of support was not given the PM during al-Nouri’s funeral (pictured above: family members and supporters raise his coffin in their funeral march). Al-Sadr’s supporters in Najaf chanted “al-Maliki is the enemy of God,” together with other slogans against al-Sadr’s Shiite political rivals.

To say that this assassination will increase tension in the entire country is an understatement. Najaf is a theological place. Al-Nouri was killed just right after prayer service. He is an influential Sadrist figure. Several prominent Sadrists look up to al-Nouri as their voice of moderation within the movement. He is one of those who constantly argued against armed confrontation with the Americans, the Iraqi government, and al-Sadr’s other Shiite rivals. He opposed their group’s decision to withdraw from al-Maliki’s government.

All signs point to condemnation!

The 41 year old leader was one of al-Sadr’s closest aides – he is part of the family (his sister is married to one of al-Sadr’s brothers). As I said earlier, Najaf is a theological place and as director of the city’s office, al-Nouri was al-Sadr’s representative in the world’s most prestigious center of Shiite learning.

Tension between al-Sadr and other Shiite parties turned into violent gunfights last month when PM al-Maliki launched an armed offensive against Shiite militias and gangs in Basra City. In retaliation, al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army launched attacks throughout southern Iraq and Baghdad. His militia showered the U.S.-controlled Green Zone with rockets and mortars.

One of al-Sadr’s rivals for Shiite control is the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. They control the security services in Najaf City and according to Sadrist officials, when al-Nouri was attacked it took the police longer than usual to respond to the gunfire – when they were just 300 yards away in a security checkpoint.

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