The divorce between Moqtada Al-Sadr and the anti-power challenge in Iraq is over. Displayed support for the movement born in October 2019, the populist Shiite leader has now become the bête noire. The incomprehension aroused, even in the ranks of the Sadrist current, by its untimely reversals since January gave way to a violent rejection after the attacks carried out by the "blue caps", the men of his militia, Saraya Al-Salam (" Peace Brigades ”). Their attempts to take over the sit-ins by force culminated in the deaths of eight protesters in Nadjaf on February 5. In slogans and on banners, in Baghdad and in the Shia south of the country, Moqtada Al-Sadr is now portrayed as a bloodthirsty man and conspired in "Criminal".
Among the protesters who reject any political or religious tutelage on the movement, the rupture arouses bitterness and relief. A self-proclaimed herald of the pro-reform movement of 2015-2016, Moqtada Al-Sadr is one of the main players in the political system, whose fall they are calling for. Since the legislative elections of 2018, which saw his coalition, Sairoun ("On the march"), come first, the populist Shiite leader is a decisive voice in the choice of the Prime Minister and of ministries. His support and the presence of thousands of his supporters in the sit-ins, however, reinforced the protest, faced with a repression that left at least 543 dead.
Threatened with reprisals
His decision to distance himself from the protests on January 24 and to support Mohammed Taoufiq Allaoui’s candidacy to form a government the following week sparked misunderstanding even among the Sadrist ranks. Many of his supporters, who number in the millions in the poor neighborhoods of Baghdad and southern Iraq, have therefore reluctantly left the sit-ins. Only a minority has dissociated. "Moqtada Al-Sadr never really supported this peaceful movement, he always tried to recover it for political ends. The sadrists tried to control and direct the demonstrations, but they found determined people in front of them ”, criticizes Sheikh Asad Al-Nasri, an influential imam of the Sadrist movement, who broke up with Moqtada Al-Sadr on January 24.
Responding to the ranks, and threatened with reprisals, he set up his tent in the heart of the sit-in in Nassiriya, his hometown and protest bastion in southern Iraq. The man said he was surrounded by many sadists who, like him, rejected the decision of the Shiite populist leader. "They come here secretly. They do not accept the position of Moqtada Al-Sadr, but they cannot say it publicly for fear of reprisals and defamation campaigns ", assures Sheikh Al-Nasri.
