January 8, 2011U.S. To Consider Iraqi Militia Leader Al-Sadr Visa Application If Submitted
The United States on Friday gave a favorable nod to prominent Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to visit American soil, saying that Washington would consider his visa application on par with other applicants, according to the State Department.
According to leaked documents, there were efforts to invite the religious leader to the U.S. to address a congregation at the National Prayer Breakfast, but the organizers decided to discourage the moves saying, “Not yet time.”
Asked to comment on the U.S. position on such a visit by the anti-U.S. cleric, PJ Crowley, the State Department spokesman, told journalists, “I’m not aware of any plans for al-Sadr to visit.”
Pressed further by AHN to determine the reaction of the Obama administration in the event a request for a visit came, Crowley said, “As with anyone around the world, they are free to apply to come to the United States and we will evaluate that request.”
Earlier in the week, Crowley described the return of al-Sadr to Iraq as an internal affair, saying, “Al-Sadr is the leader of an Iraqi political party that won a number of seats in the March 2010 election, and his return is a matter between him and the Government of Iraq.”
“It’s not for us to be for or against any particular leader or party in Iraq,” said Crowley, adding, “Our concerns about his rhetoric in the past is well-known, but what happens with him going forward is a matter for him and the Government of Iraq.”
Crowley expressed hope saying, “We certainly hope that that party will play a constructive role as part of the government coalition. What he actually does, I’m not sure I can predict.”
On the chances of al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army fomenting the sanguinary violence that occurred in 2006 and 2007, Crowley said, “That’s one of the reasons why we’ve worked so hard to build up the capability of Iraqi security forces to handle whatever challenge to the government occurs.”
Al-Sadr received a hero’s welcome when he returned as a legitimized head of an organized political party that is a vital partner in the new government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
His party won 39 seats in the parliamentary elections in March, 2010, making him a “king-maker” as the leader of the second largest party.
This is in sharp contrast to a mostly spent force al-Sadr when he left Iraq in 2007 as a feared militia leader whose black-shirted Mahdi Army battled American troops and Iraqi national forces. His militiamen had simultaneously launched revenge attacks on Sunni insurgent and terrorist movements during the brutal violence of 2006 and 2007.
According to Iraqi sources, al-Sadr for now seemed eager to adopt a completely changed image of a statesman as his movement assumed a new, powerful role in Baghdad's coalition government.
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