http://www.juancole.com/2010/08/64-dead-274-wounded-in-war-on-police.html
Posted on August 26, 2010 by Juan
<begin blog excerpt>
It would be fairly easy to form a government if the Shiite religious
parties formed a super-coalition, as they have in the past. But this
time they are divided between the State of Law coalition of incumbent
prime minister Nuri al-Maliki and the more fundamentalist parties
grouped in the National Iraqi Alliance. The latter include the Sadr
Bloc led by clergyman Muqtada al-Sadr, who is studying in the Iranian
seminary city of Qom. Sadr does not like al-Maliki because the prime
minister sent troops against his Mahdi Army militia in 2008. If Sadr
would accept al-Maliki as PM for a second term, the government could be
formed tomorrow.
Al-Sharq al-Awsat reports that Muqtada in Iran is coming under strong
pressure both from the government of Mahmud Ahmadinejad and from his
clerical teachers, the marja`iyyah or spiritual and legal Exemplars to
accept al-Maliki for the sake of Shiite power in Iraq. Muqtada has been
flirting instead with an alliance with ex-Baathist Iyad Allawi, the
darling of the Americans, who is perceived as anti-Iran. Iran really
does not want a prime minister Allawi next door in Iraq, and so is
trying to strong-arm Muqtada.
Muqtada is not, however, easy to strong-arm, and is now reportedly
considering relocating to Beirut as a way of escaping Iranian pressure
and also of retaining his independence from the Iraqi political scene.
(He may also be thinking he could fill the vacuum created by the death
of Lebanese grand ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah.) The rumors
were denied by Muqtada's spokesmen in Baghdad, who said it was much
more likely that he would return to Iraq.
It would be so ironic if the American hopes for an Allawi government
were made to come true by Muqtada al-Sadr.
<end blog excerpt>
Michael