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Iraq's Mysterious Vigilante Killers
Time Magazine ^ | May. 10, 2004 issue | SIMON ROBINSON

Posted on 05/03/2004 4:43:20 PM PDT by John Jorsett

The dark blue Volvo sped toward the guard post near Najaf's Safi al-Safa shrine just as the muezzin began his evening call to prayers. Inside the car, three gunmen prepared to fire. Their targets were members of the Mahdi Army, a band of militants loyal to the firebrand Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has holed up in Najaf for the past month to avoid capture by the 2,500 U.S. soldiers surrounding the city. As the Volvo neared the tiny brick-and-reed building, a gunman in the car opened up with his AK-47, hitting one of al-Sadr's men. Mahdi Army members say they ran the Volvo down, killing one of the three gunmen and capturing the remaining two. But other witnesses say the car disappeared into the night, its occupants unharmed. Either way, it was a blow for al-Sadr's army, which last month staged dramatic uprisings against coalition forces in several cities.

With the U.S. seeking to avoid an outright confrontation with al-Sadr's forces inside Najaf, the holiest city for Iraq's majority Shi'ites, a shadowy group of al-Sadr's rivals appears to be taking matters into its own hands. Locals say the gunmen in the Volvo came from a new group calling itself the Thulfiqar Army, seemingly named for a famed two-pronged sword that in Shi'ite tradition was used by Imam Ali, the martyred son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. Two weeks ago, the group began distributing leaflets ordering al-Sadr to leave Najaf immediately or face death. Since then, residents say, Thulfiqar has killed up to four Mahdi Army militiamen, a figure challenged by al-Sadr officials, who claim the group is the invention of American propaganda. U.S. officials say they believe the group exists but have few clues about its composition. "We don't assess it to be a very large activity at this point," coalition spokesman Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said last week.

Plenty of people have an interest in seeing al-Sadr and his ragtag army cut down. The cleric has little widespread support among mainstream Shi'ites. But al-Sadr's rise has alarmed senior Shi'ite clerics, who view him as an upstart demagogue. Al-Sadr's troops have regularly clashed with the more powerful Shi'ite militia known as the Badr Brigade. Grand Ayatullah Ali Husaini Sistani, the most prominent Shi'ite leader in Iraq, has ordered all Shi'ite factions to avoid further confrontation with al-Sadr's men, fearing it would lead to fratricidal Shi'ite violence, but, Iraqi intelligence sources say, Thulfiqar could be a splinter faction of the Badr Brigade working independently. Those sources think Thulfiqar may also be receiving support from Iran's intelligence services, which may fear that al-Sadr's anti-U.S. militancy could jeopardize the expected establishment of a Shi'ite-dominated government.

Many residents of Najaf have tired of al-Sadr and his militia's thuggish ways. Out of earshot of Mahdi Army members, locals complain that al-Sadr's men raid shops for supplies, confiscate mobile telephones and arrest people on suspicion of spying. A pro-al-Sadr newspaper ran a picture last week of a man hanged by al-Sadr followers for "spying." Waving the photo, Muntadhar al-Khazali, 18, an al-Sadr loyalist, issued a threat to others: "Anyone who works against us, this will be their fate. We will never let Muqtada al-Sadr die. If America is such a great country, why doesn't it come and get him?" Perhaps because there's a reasonable chance that someone else will first.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: iraq; mahdiarmy; najaf; sadr; shiite
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1 posted on 05/03/2004 4:43:20 PM PDT by John Jorsett
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To: John Jorsett
Here's an earlier story I posted on this:

The Mystery Sniper of Najaf.

2 posted on 05/03/2004 4:44:14 PM PDT by John Jorsett
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To: John Jorsett
Hard to believe this is from Time. Good post.
3 posted on 05/03/2004 4:47:45 PM PDT by 68skylark (.)
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To: John Jorsett
Sounds like a plan.
Find out who the are, give em a raise and put them on the payroll..
4 posted on 05/03/2004 4:49:20 PM PDT by 76834
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To: John Jorsett
Maybe a nationalist Iraqi insurgent group has entered the guerrila war, fighting against religious fantatics perhaps?
5 posted on 05/03/2004 4:50:20 PM PDT by Odyssey-x
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To: John Jorsett
Thanx John

I recall reading about a group calling themselves "black flag" that was operating in Iraq. They we doing everything from assasinating former baath party members, tearing down anti US posters, and painting anti terrorist graffitti.

I wish our media would report on this stuff.
6 posted on 05/03/2004 4:50:34 PM PDT by cripplecreek (you tell em i'm commin.... and hells commin with me.)
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To: 76834
Who's to say they aren't already on the payroll? Hmmm.
7 posted on 05/03/2004 4:52:14 PM PDT by Arkie2
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To: John Jorsett
Now, if they could just get sadr----
8 posted on 05/03/2004 4:56:15 PM PDT by freeangel (freeangel)
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To: Arkie2
Who's to say they aren't already on the payroll? Hmmm.

Must admit that that thought occurred to me.
Special forces perhaps, dont know and really dont want to know.
9 posted on 05/03/2004 4:59:22 PM PDT by 76834
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To: 76834
Find out who the are, give em a raise and put them on the payroll.

Yeah -- maybe they'd like a job in Fallujah when the Najaf work is done.

10 posted on 05/03/2004 4:59:28 PM PDT by 68skylark (.)
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To: John Jorsett


Vigilante? Who me?
11 posted on 05/03/2004 5:01:33 PM PDT by walford (http://utopia-unmasked.us)
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To: 76834
CIA operatives would be my guess but, hey, who knows. They could be for real. In any case they're doing good work!
12 posted on 05/03/2004 5:07:08 PM PDT by Arkie2
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To: wretchard; Cap Huff
More on the Thulfiqar Army.
13 posted on 05/03/2004 5:09:01 PM PDT by Dog (In Memory of Pat Tillman ---- ---- ---- American Hero.)
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To: 76834
"Special forces perhaps"

Would Special Forces use a Volvo?

F-150, 250, 350, whatever!

14 posted on 05/03/2004 5:15:40 PM PDT by Dark Glasses and Corncob Pipe (14, 15, 16...whatever!)
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To: John Jorsett
A pro-al-Sadr newspaper ran a picture last week of a man hanged by al-Sadr followers for "spying." Waving the photo, Muntadhar al-Khazali, 18, an al-Sadr loyalist, issued a threat to others: "Anyone who works against us, this will be their fate.

More of that fine palestinian training, sure to work wonders
and engender many friends.

Who's up to be leader of Hamas??? Anyone?? Hello?
15 posted on 05/03/2004 5:20:48 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: Dark Glasses and Corncob Pipe
Who knows?
Could be the Brits SAS or SBS, same with the Aussies.
Maybe be the Gurkhas, our guys etc.

As for transport:
Horses, Donkeys or anything else that moves.
Might even have to resort to shoe leather.

Sounds like they are doing a fine job
16 posted on 05/03/2004 5:21:03 PM PDT by 76834
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To: John Jorsett
Remind me never to do a drive by in a Volvo.

>>>Mahdi Army members say they ran the Volvo down, killing one of the three gunmen and capturing the remaining two.<<
17 posted on 05/03/2004 5:21:44 PM PDT by sgtbono2002 (I aint wrong, I aint sorry , and I am probably going to do it again.)
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To: sgtbono2002
Remind me never to do a drive by in a Volvo.

But it probably lulled al Sadr's men into thinking it was just a bunch of suburbanite yuppies.

18 posted on 05/03/2004 5:37:50 PM PDT by John Jorsett
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To: cripplecreek
"I recall reading about a group calling themselves "black flag" that was operating in Iraq."


Now they're in for it.

19 posted on 05/03/2004 6:36:37 PM PDT by NewRomeTacitus
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To: Dog
This group seems to have everyone guessing. That may be a good thing. I just hope our intel guys know what is happening here.
20 posted on 05/03/2004 8:07:42 PM PDT by Cap Huff
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