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Iraqis say Shiite cult targeted Shiites

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published January 30, 2007

BAGHDAD - The deputy governor in Najaf province said his intelligence forces had infiltrated the little known Shiite cult, the "Soldiers of Heaven," and knew they were massing near the city, preparing for an attack on its holy places and leading Shiite clerics.

Iraqi forces moved into the palm groves where the heavily armed messianic cult was camping, Iraqi security officers said. They said the cult planned its assault for Monday night, the eve of Shiite Islam's holiest celebration, Ashura, which includes elaborate parades and flagellation ceremonies to mark the death of Imam Hussein, the sect's most revered saint, in the 7th century.

The battle brought into focus the reality that some of the power struggles in Iraq are among Shiites, not just between Shiites and Sunnis. The Soldiers of Heaven is considered to be at least partly or wholly Shiite-run.

Three members of the cult had already taken rooms in a hotel across the street from the offices of Iraq's most senior Shiite spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, said the security officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the information. Sistani was targeted for death as were three other Shiite leaders with the rank of ayatollah, they said.

The planned attack on Najaf was an attempt by the cult to force the return of the "hidden imam," a 9th century saint who Shiites believe will return to bring peace and justice to the world, said Ahmed al-Fatlawi, a member of the Najaf provincial council.

The fierce 24-hour attack on the cult was ultimately won by Iraqi troops supported by U.S. and British jets and American ground forces, but the ability of a splinter group to rally hundreds of heavily armed fighters was a reminder of the potential for chaos and havoc emerging seemingly out of nowhere.

Members of the group, which included women and children, planned to disguise themselves as pilgrims and kill as many leading clerics as possible, said Maj. Gen. Othman al-Ghanemi, the Iraqi commander in charge of the Najaf region.

The cult's leader, wearing jeans, a coat and a hat and carrying two pistols, was among those who died in the battle, Ghanemi said. Although he went by several aliases, he was identified as Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim, 37, from Hillah, south of Baghdad, according to Abdul-Hussein Abtan, deputy governor of Najaf. Kadim had been detained twice in the past few years, Abtan said.

The U.S. military said Iraqi security forces were sent to the area Sunday after receiving a tip that gunmen were joining pilgrims headed to Najaf for Ashura, the major religious festival that culminates today. The gunmen had put up tents in fields lined with date palm groves surrounding Najaf, 100 miles south of the capital.

In the battle to foil the attack on the pilgrims, Iraqi and U.S. forces faced off against more than 200 gunmen with small arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades, the U.S. military said. The battle took place about 12 miles northeast of Najaf.

The American military said U.S. air power was called in after the Iraqis faced fierce resistance. American ground forces were also deployed after small arms fire downed a U.S. helicopter, killing two soldiers.

U.S. and British jets played a major role in the fighting, dropping 500-pound bombs on the militants' positions.

The U.S. military said more than 100 gunmen were captured but it did not say how many were killed. Iraqi defense officials said 200 were killed, 60 wounded and at least 120 captured.

"It seems most likely that this was Shiite-on-Shiite violence, with millenarian cultists making an attempt to march on Najaf during the chaos of the ritual season," Juan Cole, an Islamic scholar at the University of Michigan, said on his Web site. "The dangers of Shiite-on-Shiite violence in Iraq are substantial, as this episode demonstrated."

But Iraqi officials said Sunni extremists and Saddam Hussein loyalists were helping the cult in its bid to ambush Shiites. In addition to Iraqi Shiites, the gunmen included Sunnis and foreigners, Fatlawi said.

Ghanemi said Soldiers of Heaven is considered heretical by mainstream Shiite clerics.

Fast Facts:

'Soldiers of Heaven'

What is the cult? Iraqi government officials say the cultists were led by Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim, 37, a Shiite from Hillah who claimed he was the "hidden imam," a descendant of the prophet Mohammed who disappeared as a child in the 9th century. Shiites believe the "Hidden Imam" will come again to restore peace and justice.

Why was the cult attacked? The U.S. military said Iraqi soldiers and police went to the cult's area after a tip that armed men were moving toward Najaf as Shiite pilgrims were gathering for a major Shiite religious festival, Ashura, which culminates today. The Iraqi patrol was attacked. Iraqi officials say the cultists planned to kill clerics and pilgrims.

Were the cultists linked to the insurgency? Iraqi officials said the cult included Sunnis and foreign fighters and apparently was linked to al-Qaida in Iraq. The officials said the cultists had dug defense trenches, displayed military skills and were heavily armed, suggesting a link to insurgent groups.

[Last modified January 30, 2007, 00:45:50]