Shi'ite Islamist political parties are imposing strict Islamic
rules in the oil-producing southern provinces of Iraq and using
their armed wings to create a state of fear, a group of tribal
Shi'ite leaders said.
The four tribal leaders approached on condition of anonymity,
fearing assassination if their names or even their home provinces
were made public.
"Fear rules the streets now," said one of the sheikhs.
"We cannot speak our minds, people are not allowed to oppose
them. They would immediately disappear or get killed. The evidence
of that is I am talking about it but cannot use my name."
The fear is not unfounded - two provincial governors and a police
chief were blown up by roadside bombs in August, apparent victims
of infighting between the Shi'ite parties for political dominance
in the region, source of most of Iraq's oil wealth.
Aides to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the reclusive religious
leader of Iraq's Shi'ites, have also been killed.
The sheikhs said the conservative religious attitudes meant only
religious music was now allowed to be played in public places and
dancing was forbidden, as was drinking alcohol.
Women were also harassed for wearing clothing deemed
inappropriate.
Photographs of secular political leaders like former interim Prime
Minister Iyad Allawi could not be displayed in shops and other
public areas.
Street committees that were set up to protect neighbourhoods from
al Qaeda attacks were being misused to spy on residents and report
infractions to the militias and the police, they said.
"The people of the south are religious, we are believers, but at
the same time we like to live our lives and we like freedom," said
one sheikh.
The Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) and the movement of cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr are the dominant political forces in the Shi'ite
provinces.
Both have links to neighbouring Iran and believe Iraq should be
governed according to Islamic principles.
SIIC controls most of the governors in the south, and its armed
wing, the Badr Organisation, has many members in the police force.
Sadr's powerful Mehdi Army militia has fought fierce battles with
police loyal to the Badr Organisation.
SIIC and the Sadrists saw their rise to power cemented by the
December 2005 elections which brought the Islamist Shi'ite Alliance
to power.
The Sadrists have since pulled out of the Alliance and the
government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, leader of the smaller
Islamist Dawa party.
Washington blamed
The growing strength of the parties in the south has weakened some
secular tribal leaders and excluded them from power structures, a
source of patronage and revenues.
"Some say the Shi'ites are lucky because they are now ruling Iraq,
but that is wrong. It is the Islamist Shi'ites who are ruling Iraq.
Their victory was a curse for us," said one sheikh.
The sheikhs blamed Washington for giving Shi'ite Islamists a free
hand in the south.
US forces are concentrated to the north, focused mainly on Sunni
Islamist al Qaeda and other Sunni Arab militants and so-called
rogue Mehdi Army groups.
Washington has thrown its weight behind Baghdad's Islamist-led
government despite misgivings about its failure to push ahead with
national reconciliation and the close ties between some parties and
Iran, the United States' long-time foe.
SIIC and the Sadrists are seen by the sheikhs as importing a
conservative brand of Shi'ism from neighbouring Iran, which US
officials accuse of arming Shi'ite militias to use as proxies to
enforce their influence in the south.
"We are suffering from two occupations - America and Iran. We have
told American officials this and we have met some of them, but they
are not listening to us," one sheikh complained.
Some tribes were talking about taking up arms against the Islamist
parties, but the tribal leaders said they feared this would unleash
a bloodbath that would destabilise the south.
"The tribes do not want violence...but at the same time we want to
see a change that preserves the rights of all Iraqis, so that we
are really free," said one sheikh.
