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Al-Fudala [Virtuous People] Society

A group opposed to the U.S. occupation, the Al-Fudala Society was reportedly founded in Al-Najaf in April 2003. According to Al-Basrah's "Al-Manarah," the group, which follows the line of the late Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr through founder Muhammad al-Ya'qubi (as opposed to al-Sadr's son Muqtada) "was founded on an advanced idea based on social work by Al-Hawzah with the aim of keeping up with current developments. It seeks to unify Islamic efforts and stands toward what is going on in Iraq in particular and the Islamic world in general." The party's spokesman is Shaykh As'ad Al-Nasiri. Baghdad's "Al-Mashriq" on 27 March quoted Al-Fudala representative Shaykh Yusuf al-Kinani as protesting a clause in the Transitional Administrative Law that effectively granted the Kurds the ability to veto a future constitution. Al-Kinani said: "The transitional period means that its laws are transitional. But making laws committing future governments to these transitional laws is completely rejected." He contended that Clause C "aims to nullify the opinion of the majority and impose the will of the minority," (see "RFE/RL Iraq Report," 2 April 2004). Media reports on Al-Fudala indicate that the group seeks to install Islamic law in Iraq through its active work (natiqah), allowing the hawzah to control all aspects of Iraqi political and social life. The group has reportedly compared the United States to the Antichrist.