Radical Shiite Leaders Moderate Stance

Juan Cole 11/08/2003

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Radical Shiite leaders Moderate Stance toward US

Nir Rosen reports that Muhammad Yaqoubi, leader of the breakaway Sadrist group, al-Fudala, has moderated his anti-American statements lately, following Muqtada al-Sadr’s conciliatory communiqué of last Friday. Behind the scenes, the US is clearly using a set of carrots and sticks to reduce the tension with these ayatollahs and their numerous followers. (Yaqoubi’s Fudala is especially influential in Basra).

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/

Middle_East/EK07Ak02.html

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page