Diary 
Patrick Cockburn
A new struggle is beginning in Iraq. The most important battles likely to be waged this year will be within the Shia community. They pit the US-backed Iraqi government against the supporters of the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who represents the impoverished Shia masses. ‘The Shia are the majority in Iraq and the Sadrists are a majority of this majority,’ a former Shia minister told me. ‘They make up 30 to 40 per cent of the total Iraqi population.’ The population of Iraq is 27 million: on this calculation, as many as ten million support Muqtada.
Subscribers to the print edition can log in to view the entire article. For information about subscribing to the London Review of Books click here. This article and the back issue are also available for purchase online. Buy this article / Buy this back issue
Patrick Cockburn has been visiting Iraq since 1977. His Muqtada: Muqtada al-Sadr and the Fall of Iraq was published by Faber in April.
Other articles by this contributor:
Diary · Patrick Cockburn reports from a divided Iraq
Diary · The End of Iraq
print layout
tell a friend