Mahdi Army patrols Shiite neighborhoods

BAGHDAD, Iraq --As a car enters the Shiite district of Sadr City, a group of men step from the curb and flag down the vehicle. "Who are you and where are you going?" one of them demands.

All is well after passengers produce papers, not from the government but from the office of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. "We are sorry," one man says. "May God be with you."

Al-Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army, keeps a sharp eye out for strangers in the teeming Baghdad district, home to 2.5 million people, as well as other Shiite areas across the country.

By day, militiamen in Sadr City keep weapons out of sight. By night, they set up checkpoints, where they search cars and examine IDs to guard against would-be suicide bombers and other Sunni Arab militants.

The Mahdi Army strikes fear among Sunni Arabs, who blame the militia for kidnapping and killing Sunni civilians -- including dozens massacred last weekend in west Baghdad's Jihad district.

Coalition officials believe the Mahdi Army and other militias have infiltrated the ranks of the police and army and operate death squads that target Sunnis. The government has promised to disband all militias and armed groups, a step the United States believes is essential to healing Iraq's sectarian wounds.

But in Sadr City, many Shiites share a different view. For them, the Madhi Army provides a degree of security which Iraqi and American forces have failed to deliver.

"We all know each other here, and if a stranger comes we know him immediately," said Hassan Hinar, 27, who sells melons on the sidewalk. "The Mahdi Army keeps us safe here. If there is anything suspicious they come immediately."

Until the U.S.-led coalition and the government can guarantee public safety, armed militias will likely enjoy popular support among the sect from which they draw their members.

"We hope the day will come when Iraqi forces are strong enough to be in charge of security. Then, we will be happy to see the Mahdi Army merged into the military and security forces," said Sheik Abdul-Zahra al-Suweiadi, a senior al-Sadr aide.

Even the Mahdi Army has been unable to halt attacks in Sadr City and other Shiite communities. On July 1, 66 people were killed in a car bombing in Sadr City, the deadliest attack since the new government took power in May.

Nevertheless, the Mahdi Army's image as a defender of Shiites is largely responsible for its revival more than a year after American troops killed hundreds, if not thousands, of the black-clad fighters during two uprisings that al-Sadr led against the coalition in 2004.

Their presence in Sadr City has reassured residents so that thousands of them drive and mill about the streets freely at night, even after an 8:30 p.m. curfew.

Al-Sadr -- an outspoken opponent of the U.S. military presence -- has used the Mahdi Army to emerge as a key figure among the Shiite majority, despite hostility not only from the Americans but many Shiite leaders as well.

He established the militia in July 2003, three months after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, as U.S. occupation authorities and rival Shiite groups sought to marginalize him.

Although the Mahdi Army's current size is unclear, it is widely believed to number more than 10,000 fighters, including former soldiers from Saddam's army.

Amer al-Husseini, al-Sadr's representative in Sadr City, said local leaders can mobilize thousands of Mahdi Army members within minutes through calls by mosques loudspeakers. He maintained the Mahdi Army is gaining more members every day.

During the 2004 uprisings, U.S. troops inflicted large casualties against the Mahdi militia, which displayed more courage than military skill. Nonetheless, the Americans were never able to destroy the militia, in part because of pressure from Shiite politicians to spare al-Sadr in the interest of Shiite unity.

After al-Sadr accepted a ceasefire, little was heard of the Mahdi Army until the Feb. 22 blast destroyed the golden dome at a Shiite shrine in Samarra. Hours later, angry Shiites, many of them Mahdi Army members, attacked about 100 Sunni mosques around the country, bringing Iraq into the verge of civil war.

Al-Sadr joined the country's Shiite religious leadership in calling for an end to the attacks. But sectarian killings have continued, with both Shiites and Sunnis falling victim to sectarian death squads.

Since then, many Sunnis commonly refer to all Shiite gunmen as Mahdi Army, a sign of the reputation al-Sadr's fighters have won as the most active Shiite militia.

All that has increased pressure on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, to crack down on the Mahdi Army. Last week, Iraqi and U.S. troops raided Sadr City, capturing a militia leader and killing at least nine people.

Following the raid, militia commanders have been ordered to change their residences for their own safety, al-Suweiadi said.

The militia is also trying to clean up its image as an ill-disciplined outfit without a clear command structure. All members are being registered and issued uniforms of yellow shirts and black trousers, al-Sadr aides say.

That has helped imbue a new sense of confidence within Mahdi Army ranks at a time when pressure is mounting to disband it.

"We are an army with an ideology," al-Husseini said. "We will defend the sect if anyone tries to attack us."

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Associated Press reporter Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.