Upstart Iraqi cleric defies Shi'ite establishment

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/OWE658729.htm

BAGHDAD, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Ali al-Sistani has been the father figure for years of Iraq's long-oppressed Shi'ites, but he now faces the biggest challenge to his authority from a young radical who has taken up arms against the Americans.

Moqtada al-Sadr's followers, often poor, are fighting U.S. troops and forces of the American-backed Iraqi government in the holy city of Najaf and other southern towns.

A younger generation of nationalist clerics emboldened by the uprising, as well as many ordinary Shi'ites, have criticised 73-year-old Sistani for refusing to condemn the U.S.-led offensive against Sadr in Najaf, a centre of Shi'ite learning.

Adding to the tension is a history of family rivalry.

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[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Not an upstart.....

a "radical"... bordering on "terrorist".

[leftchick]

2. the Iraqis see him quite differently than the US media...

He is getting quite a following. "upstart" seems appropriate for the moment. He is certainly more warmly accepted by Iraqis than the US installed puppets in Baghdad... :eyes:

[bemildred]

3. They are changing the spin.

The story is full of errors, an example:

Saddam, from the minority Sunni sect, oppressed the Shias.