Haeri Criticizes Muqtada

Ayatollah Kadhim al-Haeri, now in Qom, Iran, criticized Muqtada al-Sadr, according to AFP/ash-Sharq al-Awsat. Technically, Muqtada is under the authority of al-Haeri, though if Muqtada has managed to finish his studies and is a jurisprudent (mujtahid) he would not have to follow any other cleric blindly. Al-Haeri said that Muqtada had not had the right to declare holy war on the Americans in al-Haeri's name. This according to his brother, Muhammad Husain al-Haeri.

Al-Haeri, of Iranian extraction, had fled back to Iran from Iraq in 1976. He had been a leader of the al-Da`wa Party when in Iraq.

Al-Haeri says that the US must leave Iraq as soon as possible.

I would not get too excited about al-Haeri's comments. He is far from the scene, and Muqtada is well beloved because his father was a leader for so many Shiites. Muqtada has far more influence in Iraq now than does al-Haeri.