Region | Iraq
'Heaven's Army' sparks political controversy in Shiite provinces
A widespread controversy has erupted among political and religious milieus in Shiite provinces south of Iraq days after the armed rebellion led by radical Shiite "Heaven's Army" organisation in Basra and Nassariyah.
- By Basil Adas, Correspondent
- Published: 00:22 January 29, 2008
Baghdad: A widespread controversy has erupted among political and religious milieus in Shiite provinces south of Iraq days after the armed rebellion led by radical Shiite "Heaven's Army" organisation in Basra and Nassariyah.
This controversy is kept strictly confidential as a result of two factors. The first is because the intelligence information uncovered has come as a surprise to the Iraqi government, and secondly, some Shiite elites have accused Shiite religious forces of promoting the Al Mahdi emergence, which is exploited by criminal groups aiming to seize power in the region.
"All information available to us has confirmed that elements of the "Heaven's Army" organisation were in Iran and they were affiliated to the Shiite leader Moqtada Al Sadr's Mahdi Army," said a senior official in the Iraqi intelligence services, which is believed to work closely with the CIA.
"Thus this organisation is a dissident armed cell of the Mahdi Army ... the organisation's headquarters are in Kufa which is under Al Sadr's control," added the official, who asked to be named Zamel Haider.
Contradiction
The Iraqi Intelligence position contradicts the position of the National Security Ministry chaired by Shirwan Al Waeli and the National Security Advisory headed by Muwafaq Al Rubaie who believe that the group is somehow linked with Sunni leaders.
"Defendants recruited in the "Heaven's Army" organisation have contacts with Arab countries hostile to the Shiite coalition government headed by Nouri Al Maliki, besides some of the detainees confessed that they have received money from people close to Harith Al Dhari, Head of the Sunni Muslim Scholars Association which is against the Iraqi political process," said Mahdi Al Safi, an official at the Iraqi National Security Ministry.
This contradiction in explanations and information about the "Heaven's Army" organisation aroused confusion on whether Iraqi political forces are supporting this organisation to raise a Shiite civil war or preparing to overthrow Al Maliki.
Message: Truce extension unlikely
Influential members of Moqtada Al Sadr's movement have urged the anti-US Shiite cleric not to extend a ceasefire when it expires next month, officials said yesterday, a move that could jeopardise recent security gains.
"We presented a historic opportunity when we froze the [Mahdi] army," Nasser Al Rubaie, leader of the Sadrists in parliament, told reporters yesterday.
"But the step was negatively capitalised on." The group planned to send the message to Al Sadr's main office in the holy city of Najaf, two Sadrist legislators and a member of the political commission said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears of retribution.
- AP
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