Title : Firebrand cleric whose militia killed British and US troops during Iraq War leads election polls
link : Firebrand cleric whose militia killed British and US troops during Iraq War leads election polls
Firebrand cleric whose militia killed British and US troops during Iraq War leads election polls
- Iraq's first parliamentary elections since the defeat of ISIS has caused upset
- The internationally backed Prime Minister is facing defeat from a radical cleric
- Moqtada al-Sadr was a wanted man in 2003 and sparked bloodshed in Basra
- The leader of the Shia Mahdi Army called for kidnapping of British troops
Iraqi Shiite cleric and leader Moqtada al-Sadr was once wanted by the US
A radical cleric who led militia into bloody battles with coalition forces in Iraq could now be set to run the country as his alliance edges ahead in the national elections.
Firebrand Iraqi Moqtada al-Sadr formed the Mahdi Army in 2003 which was responsible for bloodshed on the streets on Basra and the shooting down of coalition planes.
Four British airmen were killed in Basra in May 2006 when a helicopter was shot down. The Shia militia announced it would kill any British troops it saw.
Al-Sadr’s forces offered rewards for the capture and killing of British soldiers and he was implicated in multiple kidnappings.
The militia also hunted US troops in Najaf, just south of Baghdad. At least 70 US deaths are attributed to his forces in Najaf alone.
Now, he has reinvented himself and has formed a political coalition with communists.
The Marching Towards Reform alliance was ahead in six of Iraq's 18 provinces and second in four others, early results show.
The alliance is beating Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who has been backed by the international community. The Prime Minister is ahead in just one province, AFP figures showed.
Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, seen in the posters, celebrate after the preliminary results of the parliamentary elections are announced, in Tahrir Square, Baghdad
Sadr, once the voice of the opposition to the war in Iraq, faces competition from another alliance.
The Conquest Alliance, made up of ex-fighters from mainly Iran-backed paramilitary units that battled the Islamic State group, was ahead in four provinces and second in eight others.
After a vote Saturday that saw a record number of abstentions, the final makeup of the parliament is still far from decided.
The vote is the first being held since the defeat of Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists in the country.
Abadi - who came to power as IS swept across Iraq in 2014 - is a consensus figure who has balanced off the United States and Iran.
The other leading challengers have often taken a stronger stance against the United States.
Iraq's electoral commission announces influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is the current front-runner in national elections
Several senior political figures had previously told AFP that preliminary results put Abadi in the lead, on course to scoop 60 of the 329 parliament seats up for grabs.
After the announcement that the Marching Towards Reform was ahead in Baghdad, supporters took the streets in the capital to celebrate a win.
Crowds of mainly young people waved flags and pictures of the populist nationalist cleric Sadr while fireworks fired off into the night sky.
The ballot Saturday saw a record low turnout, as only 44.5 percent of eligible voters headed to the polls in the lowest participation rate since the 2003 US-led ouster of Saddam Hussein.
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