Statesman by decree

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr addresses a press conference in Najaf, Iraq. (AP Photo / March 13, 2006)

DAMASCUS, Syria - As he walked into one of Shia Islam's holiest shrines, the cleric was greeted by hundreds of believers waving his picture and pumping their fists in the air. The surging crowd chanted, "With our blood, with our souls, we will sacrifice for you, Muqtada."

Such a reception is typical for Muqtada al-Sadr in Iraq, where he commands a wide following. But this was the capital of a neighboring country, Syria, a secular dictatorship where visiting religious leaders usually do not rate a hero's welcome.

"I pray that all Muslims will unite against Western injustice and tyranny," al-Sadr told the crowd during his Feb. 10 visit to the Sayida Zeinab shrine in Damascus. It was a not-so-subtle reference to the continued U.S. military presence in Iraq and Washington's repeated threats against Syria. "We must free ourselves from foreign domination," he added.

Once a renegade Shia cleric with a ragtag militia fighting U.S. forces, al-Sadr has transformed himself into a statesman. He controls a key bloc in the new Iraqi parliament, and he's become a kingmaker in the selection of the next Iraqi prime minister. In this new role, al-Sadr, 33, has been touring the Middle East, receiving red-carpet treatment worthy of a head of state. Over the past two months, he visited Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iran - and he had a private audience with each country's leader.

For the United States, al-Sadr may pose a greater threat as a politician than he did as a militia leader. Three years after the U.S. invasion, he could seriously disrupt plans to cultivate a pro-American government in Baghdad.

For Syria, which has been under intense pressure from the Bush administration for meddling in Iraq and Lebanon, the cleric's visit afforded President Bashar Assad an opportunity to showcase an anti-American ally. Assad hosted al-Sadr at the main presidential palace, an honor usually bestowed on a visiting head of state.

More broadly, al-Sadr's weeklong visit highlighted Syria's efforts to join forces with Iran and militant factions in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories to challenge Washington. It is an alliance of countries and groups that have been in the crosshairs of U.S. policy since before the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"The Syrian regime is trying to form a united front with Iran and Islamist groups in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine," said Marwan Kabalan, a political science professor at Damascus University and a former government consultant. "Al-Sadr is a major part of that effort."

The cleric met with Assad twice, as well as with Syria's vice president, various ministers and most of the country's top religious leaders. He toured the Syrian-Iraqi border, visited shrines and received dozens of visitors at the presidential palace. Al-Sadr's activities were covered glowingly by the state-run Syrian media, which introduced him as "his eminence," a title normally reserved for more senior clerics.

Sadr escalates war of words

Throughout his time in Damascus, al-Sadr - who had never traveled outside Iraq before the U.S. invasion - ratcheted up his anti-American rhetoric. He promised to send his several-thousand strong militia, the Mahdi Army, to the aid of Syria and Iran if either country is attacked by the United States. He also hinted that any American action in Syria or Iran could have consequences for U.S. troops in Iraq.

"I will be one of the defenders of Syria and Iran, and all Islamic states," the cleric said on Feb. 6 after meeting with Assad. A few days later, he told Syrian TV: "America is targeting the Muslim and Arab states in the Middle East and beyond. It wants to control the world."

Al-Sadr has shown that he can cause serious political and military problems for the United States in Iraq. His militia led two uprisings in 2004 against U.S. forces in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City and in the Shia holy city of Najaf. After U.S. troops killed several thousand of his supporters and crippled his Mahdi Army, the most revered Shia cleric in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, brokered a cease-fire. Under the agreement, al-Sadr's militia was supposed to disarm.

But the cleric's followers have infiltrated Iraqi security forces and regrouped as local civil defense units across Shia-dominated southern Iraq. In the cities where al-Sadr's fighters hold sway, they enforce a strict interpretation of Islamic law. They have bombed liquor stores and movie theaters, and they harass women who do not wear full veils. They also are suspected of running death squads that assassinate Sunnis and former members of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime.

During his visit to Syria, al-Sadr met with the exiled leaders of eight Palestinian militant groups, which all operate out of Damascus and reject any peace negotiations with Israel. He was particularly effusive in his praise of Hamas, the Islamic group that won a sweeping victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections in January.

"I hope this is the beginning of an Islamic awakening and that it will lead to Islam's triumph in other countries," al-Sadr said of the Hamas win.

The Syrian regime has allowed Hamas political leaders to live in Damascus for years, and the group's election victory bolstered Assad's government in its confrontation with the United States. Syria is likely to use Hamas and al-Sadr to influence events in the Palestinian territories and Iraq.

"Syria can't be important unless it plays its regional cards. This country is not wealthy and it doesn't have enough oil to be influential," Kabalan said. "We are playing the role of a bad student at school. If you don't make trouble, no one will pay attention to you."

Since Hussein's ouster, the Bush administration has accused Syria of sheltering Iraqi Baathist leaders and turning a blind eye to Islamic militants slipping into Iraq to fight U.S. forces. In 2004, President George W. Bush imposed economic sanctions on Syria and tried to isolate it.

The state-run Syrian media trumpeted al-Sadr's tour of the Syrian-Iraqi border, where he declared that Assad's regime was not helping militants reach Iraq. "The accusation that Syria is allowing infiltrators lacks any proof," he said.