Sadr shows how to win hearts and minds

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/29/wirq129.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/08/29/ixnewstop.html

Twelve months ago the centre of Najaf resounded to the sound of gunfire as American forces overwhelmed fanatical Shia guerrillas who had seized control of the holy city.

It was hailed as a victory which would permanently undermine the influence of the gunmen's leader, Moqtada al-Sadr, the firebrand cleric who had called for the "occupiers" to be ejected from the city in which lies the most holy mosque in Shia Islam.

But visitors to Najaf and the neighbouring city of Kufah today would find little visible indication that it was Sadr and his supporters who lost.

Two hundred of his men surround the mosque in Kufa where each Friday a Sadr acolyte preaches to the masses. At checkpoints militiamen stand alongside police officers checking for potential suicide bombers. It is the American patrols that keep a low profile, under orders not to enter central districts.

when it serves his purpose.

Follow the Hamas model. It takes a while, but if nothing else, you show your importance and power. After all, that's what really counts.

Guns, God, and Glory.