At least eight anti-government protesters were shot dead and 52 were wounded in clashes with followers of a radical Shiite cleric in southern Iraq on Wednesday, Iraqi medical officials and activists said.
The violence comes as new divisions have emerged among protesters and supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who initially threw his weight behind the uprising. But he then re-positioned himself toward the political establishment after political elites selected Mohammed Allawi as prime minister-designate, a candidate he endorsed.
Since then al-Sadr has issued a dizzying array of calls to followers, asking them to return to the streets days after withdrawing support from protests. The often contradictory orders have exacerbated existing tensions between anti-government demonstrators and his followers, with some activists claiming al-Sadr’s followers had threatened them to toe the cleric’s line or leave protest sites.
I don't trust that three-time insurrectionist Sadr one damn bit and I worry we'll live to regret we let him live.
