After Muqtada, the militias ...

[bemildred]

Another sign of progress.

KARACHI - With the United States preoccupied first with the Sunni
resistance in Fallujah and then with the Shi'ite opposition in
Najaf, led by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, another, equally
significant development has taken place in the Shi'ite-dominated
south of Iraq.

According to Asia Times Online contacts in the south, the
Lebanese Shi'ite militia Hezbollah has deeply infiltrated Basra
and surrounding areas, so much so that it virtually runs the
province, with the help of Shi'ite militias, and is committed to
establishing vilayat-e-faqih (rule by the religious clergy
according to the Shi'ite faith).

Most of Iraq's eligible males received military training under
the Ba'ath rule of Saddam Hussein, and now the Shi'ite militias
have equipped them with arms and ammunition. According to the
contacts, much of this activity is being bankrolled through
"welfare funds" ostensibly given to mosques and shrines by
Iranian intelligence. Also, Iranian Shi'ites are said to be
flooding across the porous border in their thousands, including
Iranian revolutionary guards, who have already established
pockets, especially in Ammarah and Basra.

The former residence of the governor of Basra, situated in
Mohallah (locality) Manawi Basha (popularly known as Corneesh)
near the Sheraton Hotel is now being used by Iranian intelligence
under the cover of the Sayyed al-Shohada political party. The
party is like many Shi'ite militias and calls itself a branch of
the al-Majlis al-Alla (Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in
Iraq - SCIR) led by Ayatollah Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. However, the
office bearers of the organization are not known to local Iraqis,
and are generally believed to be Iranian.

Asia Times