Al-Sadr II Movement
Led by firebrand Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the movement has emerged as perhaps the most militant anti-American force in Iraq. Many members are young, disenfranchised Shi'a attracted by the cleric's charisma and firebrand style of preaching. Al-Sadr is the son of the late Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, who was gunned down, presumably by Saddam Hussein's men, along with Muqtada's two brothers, in 1999. Fiercely nationalist, al-Sadr's military wing, the Imam Al-Mahdi Army, has actively resisted U.S.-led occupation efforts; various tallies have put its numbers as several-thousand strong, although exact figures are presently unavailable. The Mahdi Army's mouthpiece is the "Ansar Al-Mahdi" newspaper, which is edited by Ahmad Al-Mutayri.
