Beatings, abductions, shootings: on patrol with the al-Mahdi Army

[ECH1969]

They bring death to the streets, but feel no shame and fear no reprisal. The leaders of the Shia militia's Baghdad 'office' talk to The Times. For Abu Maha is a leader of Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr’s al-Mahdi Army in western Baghdad, a deadly force with such power that no politician dares take it on.

Accompanied by The Times, Abu Maha cruises past Iraqi soldiers as he plans an attack in Ghazaliyah, a mixed neighbourhood that has been a battleground for months. Ghazaliyah abuts Shula to the north, another enclave of the al-Mahdi Army, and Abu Maha is looking to extend his militia’s influence.

He shares some of his chilling exploits that have ended with the now familiar sight of a corpse dumped on the street. Abu Maha, who used to be a gun seller, is just one of the many foot soldiers in the al-Mahdi Army’s intricate command structure. He reports back to a head officer in the Shula office. He, in turn, turn reports to the Sadr City office.

The al-Mahdi Army calls its Baghdad headquarters the operation room. The space can change, but the top commanders always convene in Sadr City to go over strategy and instructions from Hojatoleslam al-Sadr, says a high-ranking officer calling himself Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr says that he and a superior officer called Abu Haidar take turns to make a weekly trip to Najaf to receive Hojatoleslam al-Sadr’s commands.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2385385,00.html