IRAQ - Sadr Says The UK Is Leaving Defeated.

There is the risk of the oil-rich south of Iraq falling into the hands of Shi'ite militias backed by the theocracy of Iran. The Independent on Aug. 20 published an interview with Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shi'ite cleric whose Jaysh al-Mahdi (JaM) militia has splintered into several factions. Some of these factions now are controlled by Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The UK paper quoted Sadr as saying: "The British have given-up and they know they will be leaving Iraq soon. They are retreating because of the resistance they have faced. Without that, they would have stayed for much longer, there is no doubt".

JaM forces have clashed frequently with British troops in southern Iraq, most recently in the battle for power over the oil-rich port city of Basra. Scores of British soldiers have been killed and wounded by Sadrist militants. Sadr said: "The British have realised this is not a war they should be fighting or one they can win. The...[JaM] has played an important role in that".

Sadr warned that Britain's involvement in the invasion of Iraq had made the UK a less safe place to live, saying: "The British put their soldiers in a dangerous position by sending them here but they also put the people in their own country in danger. They have made enemies among all Muslims and they now face attacks at home because of their war. That was their mistake".

The Independent said Sadr's comments came during two separate meetings with the young cleric at the Sadr movement's headquarters in Kufa, a holy Shi'ite city 100 miles south of Baghdad and site of a mosque where Sadr often gives fiery Friday sermons. The paper said: "The streets [of Kufa] were eerily devoid of cars, which are, in effect, banned in an effort to prevent [suicide] bombings [by Neo-Salafis]". The paper said senior Shi'ite leaders were high on the list of Neo-Salafi targets.

The paper said only two guards with AK-47 assault rifles appeared to be protecting Sadr in his office, "a clear sign that Kufa and the surrounding area is firmly under the control of Sadr loyalists". It is not patrolled by US troops and access is policed by Iraqi security at heavily armed roadblocks.

The Independent said: "Mr Sadr's remarks echo those of senior British military commanders who have come to view the mission of UK forces in Iraq as finished. They have reportedly told the Prime Minister Gordon Brown there is nothing more to be achieved in southern Iraq and that troops should be redeployed to Afghanistan".

At the beginning of 2007, Britain had just over 7,000 troops in two provinces of south-eastern Iraq. Current UK force strength is down to 5,500, confined to two main bases, Basra airport and the Basra Palace, which is under siege. Another reduction to 5,000 is expected this summer. Any additional cuts would be part of a complete withdrawal.

British Defence Secretary Des Browne recently said further cuts had not been decided on and would only take place in agreement with the Americans. As the force has dwindled, losses among British troops have accelerated. So far this year, 41 servicemen and women have died, compared to 29 in the whole of 2006. Their area of operations has, in effect, been taken over by three competing militia groups, JaM, the Badr forces of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), and al-Fadhila al-Islamiya, all of which are heavily implicated in oil smuggling, intimidation and death squad activity.

Sadr, however, said Basra would be a safer place once the British military presence had ended, adding: "There will still be some problems in southern Iraq, there will be violence because some countries are trying to influence the situation. But with the occupation of southern Iraq finished we will be freer to live our lives as brothers".

The paper said that, throughout the previous week, a series of influential Iraqi shaikhs, including at least one senior Sunni tribal leader, visited the Sadrist HQ as part of an effort to heal the rift between Sunnis and Shi'ites. Aides to Sadr said it was a priority to form a united nationalist front against all "foreign elements" in Iraq, with the Americans and al-Qaeda to be considered equally as enemies.

Al-Qaeda follows the ideology of Neo-Salafism, by far the most violent strain of Sunni Islam. US forces in Iraq, together with allied Sunni tribes, have pushed the Neo-Salafis out of Anbar and Diyala provinces. Now the Neo-Salafis are seeking a save haven in Iraq's north-west close to the Syrian border, where they recently massacred move than 500 Yazidis (see rim2-Iraq-IranAgainAug20-07).

The Independent quoted Sadr as shrugging off recent rumours that he had fled to Iran. He dismissed them as American propaganda designed to discredit him. He denied US claims his forces were armed by Iran. Sadr said: "We are at war and America is our enemy so we are entitled to take help from anyone. But we have not asked for Iran's help". He said he "welcomed" the UN decision to expand its role in Iraq, pledging: "I would support the UN here in Iraq if it comes and replaces the American and British occupiers. If the UN comes here to truly help the Iraqi people, they will receive our help in their work. I would ask my followers to support the UN as long as it is here to help us rebuild our country. They must not just be another face of the American occupation".

The Sadr movement pulled its six ministers from Maliki's cabinet and its 32 elected MPs out of the federal parliament earlier this year, ending its nominal support for the Shi'ite PM. Other factions have since followed suit, bringing the government to the brink of collapse. Sadr said despite recent efforts by the PM to shore up his power base, Maliki's days as Iraq's elected leader were numbered.

Sadr added: "Al-Maliki's government will not survive because he has proven that he will not work with important elements of the Iraqi people. The Prime Minister is a tool for the Americans and people see that clearly. It will probably be the Americans who decide to change him when they realise he has failed. We don't have a democracy here, we have a foreign occupation".