In Iraq, cemetery is symbol of militia's vow to fight if U.S. forces delay exit

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Mourners pay their respects to fighters and supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr buried in a cemetery near Najaf, Iraq.


In Iraq, cemetery is symbol of militia's vow to fight if U.S. forces delay exit
By Leila Fadel
Wednesday, August 18, 2010

NAJAF, IRAQ -- The followers of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr call this plot of land on the edge of this holy Shiite city the Freedom Cemetery.

It is barren, nondescript desert ground, a two-acre section within the Sadrist Martyrs' cemetery. The graves have not been excavated. But it is reserved for a purpose: the possibility that U.S. forces might stay beyond the Dec. 31, 2011, departure deadline mandated by a security agreement between the United States and Iraq.

If that happens, members of the Mahdi Army, a militant Shiite group that bills itself as a resistance force against the U.S. occupation, have promised to rise up and fight to the death. Their bodies would be buried in the cemetery.

"If the Americans leave, which we don't think they will, we'll make it a burial site for our parents," said Abu Mohammed, who oversees the Sadrist cemetery, where 4,250 fighters and Sadr supporters are buried. "If their exit is delayed, we will fight and give our blood.

"This will be our solution," he said as he waved toward the reserved plot.