Moqtada: a shrewd leader and no dupe of Iran

tim collins says the West must negotiate with Iraq’s enigmatic Shia leader, Moqtada al-Sadr

I have long held the view that Moqtada al-Sadr is a creation of the times. Throughout history there have been those who through sheer force of personality have moved nations towards their politics by force of argument and sheer menace, hijacking an existing political movement to their own ends - Mussolini and Stalin, as well as Saddam, come to mind.

Then there are those messianic characters, convinced almost to the point of psychosis that their actions are above rebuke and for the common good, who seem to draw on the anger of a nation or people and focus that anger into a movement - as did, say, Milosevic.

Moqtada does not fall precisely into either of these categories, but he tends towards the latter. He is, though, much more astute: indeed, rather than being a malevolent exponent of crude genocide in the mould of

Moqtada is potentially a force who could reconcile Sunni, Kurd and Shia

al-Zarqawi, or Saddam, Moqtada is potentially a force who could reconcile Sunni, Kurd and Shia.

But he certainly exudes messianic charisma and is undoubtedly a focus for the anger as well as the hope of his people. Patrick Cockburn, in his new book Moqtada al-Sadr and the Fall of Iraq, describes him as 'riding a tiger', and I believe he has got it spot on. But among the 'tiger jockeys' we have seen in the last half-century, there have been few as naturally talented as Moqtada.

I have spent a total of nearly a year in Iraq since the invasion as variously soldier, writer and advisor and can relate wholly to the account laid out in this book. The disastrous misjudgements that characterised the Bremer era have had, and will continue to have, long-standing and miserable effects.

Meantime, from the chaos of this benighted country have emerged a number of key leaders from the constituent communities of Iraq.

From the Kurds has come Jalal Talabani, who is perhaps the most effective and