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Story Of Arrest Warrant For Muqtada

Juan Cole 04/17/2004

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Story of the Arrest Warrant for Muqtada

More on the back story of the warrant for Muqtada’s arrest.

‘ According to the brief, Juhy has found an eyewitness who is willing to testify that Sadr, who saw Khoei as a threat to his ambitions, became aware of Khoei’s visit and planned with his associates to kill him.

A second eyewitness says that when Sadr and a group of followers entered the mosque and saw Khoei’s group, Sadr’s followers said; “Just say the word, master, and we will attack.”

The brief says: “Sadr replied, ‘Just wait, just wait’.”

A funeral procession then came into the mosque, and using this distraction, Sadr called to his followers to attack.

“(The) witness reported that Sadr said, ‘By the will of God, attack’.”

Sadr then left the mosque and returned to his office, whereupon his followers drew AK-47s from their robes and started firing in the direction of Khoei and his group in the Khaladaria, an area in which the offices of the mosque clerics are located. ‘

I am very suspicious about all this. I have looked at the eyewitness accounts published last year in the Arabic press, and I was unable to find any eyewitness account of Muqtada actually ordering the hit. Crowds and mobs are not completely irrational, but they have their own logic. I would reserve my judgment here. Whether there is enough for an American-style grand jury to indict on I cannot say.

But I continue to maintain that politically, the way the Americans came after Muqtada was ill advised.

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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

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