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Moqtada Sadr: Resistance in Iraq 'legitimate'
Moqtada Sadr, the radical Iraqi Shia cleric whose militia led uprisings against US troops in Najaf has told the BBC armed "resistance is legitimate".
Speaking to Newsnight, Mr Sadr said that even US President George W Bush would agree that fighting an occupation force was a correct course of action.
However, he did call upon Iraqis to exercise restraint with US troops.
And he said he would not interfere with the democratic process, saying "Whoever wants to take part, let him do so".
"Resistance is legitimate at all levels be it religious, intellectual and so on," Mr Sadr said.
"The first person who would acknowledge this is the so-called American President Bush who said `if my country is occupied, I will fight'."
Call for restraint
In the past Mr Sadr has called for a national rebellion against foreign troops and sent out his militiamen, the Mehdi Army, to confront the "invaders" and Iraqi police.
However, speaking in the interview to be broadcast on Monday night, Mr Sadr said he believed "America does not want confrontation".
"So I call upon other parties like the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police to exercise self-restraint with Iraqi people and not be provoked into them or the occupying forces as this isn't in the interest of Iraq," he said.
"I also call on the Iraqi people to exercise restraint and not get enmeshed in the plans of the West or plans of the occupation that wants to provoke them."
Mr Sadr argued that it is the presence of foreign troops which is the cause of Iraq's current problems.
"The occupation in itself is a problem. Iraq not being independent is the problem. And the other problems stem from that - from sectarianism to civil war," he said. "The entire American presence causes this."
Refusal to engage
Iraq is set to have a new constitution unveiled on 15 August, but Mr Sadr, who is a figurehead for many of Iraq's poor Shia Muslims, said he would not play any part in drafting that constitution or take on and official political role as long as the US troops remain.
"I personally shall not interfere. I say that our constitution is the Koran and the Sunnah and I refuse any political role while the occupation is present." he said, although adding that he would not stop any others participating.
The interview, Mr Sadr's first ever interview with Western media, was done on the last two weeks.
--
Newsnight's interview with Moqtada Sadr will be broadcast at 2230 BST on Monday 18 July.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4691865.stm
However, he did call upon Iraqis to exercise restraint with US troops.
And he said he would not interfere with the democratic process, saying "Whoever wants to take part, let him do so".
"Resistance is legitimate at all levels be it religious, intellectual and so on," Mr Sadr said.
"The first person who would acknowledge this is the so-called American President Bush who said `if my country is occupied, I will fight'."
Call for restraint
In the past Mr Sadr has called for a national rebellion against foreign troops and sent out his militiamen, the Mehdi Army, to confront the "invaders" and Iraqi police.
However, speaking in the interview to be broadcast on Monday night, Mr Sadr said he believed "America does not want confrontation".
"So I call upon other parties like the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police to exercise self-restraint with Iraqi people and not be provoked into them or the occupying forces as this isn't in the interest of Iraq," he said.
"I also call on the Iraqi people to exercise restraint and not get enmeshed in the plans of the West or plans of the occupation that wants to provoke them."
Mr Sadr argued that it is the presence of foreign troops which is the cause of Iraq's current problems.
"The occupation in itself is a problem. Iraq not being independent is the problem. And the other problems stem from that - from sectarianism to civil war," he said. "The entire American presence causes this."
Refusal to engage
Iraq is set to have a new constitution unveiled on 15 August, but Mr Sadr, who is a figurehead for many of Iraq's poor Shia Muslims, said he would not play any part in drafting that constitution or take on and official political role as long as the US troops remain.
"I personally shall not interfere. I say that our constitution is the Koran and the Sunnah and I refuse any political role while the occupation is present." he said, although adding that he would not stop any others participating.
The interview, Mr Sadr's first ever interview with Western media, was done on the last two weeks.
--
Newsnight's interview with Moqtada Sadr will be broadcast at 2230 BST on Monday 18 July.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4691865.stm
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He said this to the BBC in his first interview with a Western news organisation to be broadcast on Monday.
Al-Sadr, who led a six-month uprising last year in the Shia city of Najaf, said that the US "does not want confrontation".
"So I call upon other parties like the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police to exercise self-restraint with Iraqi people and not be provoked [by] them or the occupying forces as this isn't in the interest of Iraq," he said.
"I also call on the Iraqi people to exercise restraint and not get enmeshed in the plans of the West or plans of the occupation that wants to provoke them."
But he added: "Resistance is legitimate at all levels be it religious, intellectual and so on. The first person who would acknowledge this is the so-called American President [George] Bush who said: 'If my country is occupied, I will fight'."
The presence of foreign troops was the reason for the current problems faced by Iraq, he argued.
"The occupation in itself is a problem. Iraq not being independent is the problem. And the other problems stem from that - from sectarianism to civil war. The entire American presence causes this," he charged.
Politics refused
Al-Sadr said he would not play any part in the democratic process while US-led troops remained in the country.
"I personally shall not interfere. I say that our constitution is the Quran and the Sunnah (tradition of the Prophet Muhammad) and I refuse any political role while the occupation is present."
The interview was to be broadcast only two days after three British soldiers were killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb, prompting the main opposition Conservative Party to demand the interview not be shown.
"Why are the BBC giving airtime to someone who at the best is on the fringes of what is acceptable?" Conservative defence spokesman Gerald Howarth said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A8469CBA-3815-4D7D-9B63-5677F0DE1943.htm
It's my happy task to let you know the programme has a truly remarkable report tonight.
One of the difficulties in reporting Iraq is that many parts of the country are simply too dangerous. Witness the violence this weekend alone, in which more than 150 Iraqis were killed. Journalists rarely stray from heavily protected compounds - unable to portray the fuller picture they're eager to bring.
The independent film maker Maziar Bahari has spent the last month travelling around the country for Newsnight, filming in places few foreign journalists have been able to visit over the last few years. In our extended report you'll see pictures of downtown Fallujah, the stronghold of Sunni insurgents battered by an American offensive. Maziar has visited the slums of Sadr City, the marshland in the South, the holy city of Najaf, as well as Baghdad and Basra.
The report contains accounts by ordinary Iraqis of their stories and their fears for the country. And we talk to Moqtada al Sadr in his first interview with the Western media. He is the firebrand Muslim cleric, whose Mahdi army fought the US in Najaf. He's still opposed to the US occupation of his country, but he's speaking a new language of restraint, calling for Iraqis not to be provoked into confrontation with American and British troops.
Our report will air as questions are raised about the Government's Iraq policy. The highly respected think tank Chatham House believes Britain is more of a target for terrorists since it joined America in the war. We will be asking a panel of guests for their views on how to stop the sectarian violence, how great the danger of civil war. And we'll be examining the political fall out for the British government.
And as you may have heard, another Newsnight report is in the headlines. In July 2000 John Simpson went to the London suburb of Mitcham to track down a notorious Afghan war lord, Commander Zardad. Reports said he shot anyone who crossed him and even kept the so-called Human Dog, a man who acted like a wild dog and sank his teeth into his victims' flesh.
Today Faryadi Zardad was found guilty of torture and hostage taking, becoming the first man to be tried in Britain for torture committed in another country. Tonight John will be back with the background of the crimes the Attorney General called so heinous that they should be tried in any country.
I hope you can join us.
Eddie Mair
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4694225.stm#
Good line. It puts me in mind of something a certain Palestinian agitator once said, "Render unto Caeser that which is Caeser's, and unto G-d that which is G-d's."
PS
Never do anything illegal.