"By the order of the Sadr office, no one is allowed to use this road," a policeman told me while I was going to cover the Friday prayer in Sadr City. I was shocked and said to myself, "What is going on?!"A policeman, who is supposed to receive orders from the Iraqi government, receives an order from a religious Shiite office!
The moment you enter Sadr city, you feel that you are out of Baghdad and you are in another country, a Shiite one which has nothing to do with the government. Police are only welcomed to control the boundaries cooperated by the Mahdi army
Once known as Al Thawra, then as Saddam City, Sadr City is named for the Imam Mohammed Sadr, an Iraqi Shiite religious leader killed by Saddam Hussein in 1999.
The city's 2.5 million Shiites are dominated by the radical Shiite cleric, Muqtada Sadr whose face on the posters stuck everywhere in the city. The city is subdivided into six sections and it is one of the poorest in Baghdad. Unemployment is widely spread. Homes are in disrepair. It is also a haven for criminals released from Iraqi prisons by Saddam shortly before the U.S.-led invasion. Parts of some streets in the city are flooded with sewage from neglected pipes. Residents of Sadr City say that the Baghdad Municipality does not pick up their trash. So they throw their trash on the medians of the streets.
The city's 2.5 million Shiites are dominated by the radical Shiite cleric, Muqtada Sadr whose face on the posters stuck everywhere in the city. The city is subdivided into six sections and it is one of the poorest in Baghdad. Unemployment is widely spread. Homes are in disrepair. It is also a haven for criminals released from Iraqi prisons by Saddam shortly before the U.S.-led invasion. Parts of some streets in the city are flooded with sewage from neglected pipes. Residents of Sadr City say that the Baghdad Municipality does not pick up their trash. So they throw their trash on the medians of the streets.
Wearing black shirts and trousers, Mahdi Army militiamen who act as the police force within the community are deployed everywhere in the city.
To attend the Friday prayer, the visitor, although welcomed, has to be subjected to physical search by these militiamen in every 50 meters.
To attend the Friday prayer, the visitor, although welcomed, has to be subjected to physical search by these militiamen in every 50 meters.
The residents and the militiamen accuse the government for its "failure or weakness" in controlling the country, so they decided to "control" themselves by themselves as "the Shiites are the main target in Iraq now instead of the occupation."
In early April 2004, the Mahdi Army attempted to interfere with security in Baghdad. The militia attempted to occupy and gain control of police stations and government buildings. During this attack, the militia engaged coalition forces and Iraqi Security Forces with small arms fire and RPGs. Coalition forces and Iraqi security forces prevented this effort and reestablished security in Baghdad.
From my frequent visits to Sadr City, I concluded that it is now considered one of the safest areas in Baghdad in which its visitors, Arabs or westerners, may believe they are in another country controlled by its people!
