Fiery cleric who battled US

BAGHDAD: Moqtada Sadr is the scion of an influential clerical family who raised a rebellion after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and has now reinvented himself as a reform champion to triumph at elections.

After the toppling of Saddam Hussein his militia fought fierce battles with American troops and he was identified by the Pentagon in 2006 as the biggest threat to stability in Iraq. But after years on the sidelines, Sadr linked up with secularists with a promise to battle corruption and now appears to hold the keys to Baghdad. The nationalist cleric´s Marching Towards Reform alliance came out on top in Iraq´s parliamentary elections earlier this month. “Sadr — often dubbed a firebrand cleric — has come a long way from the days in 2003 when he was an outcast and a hunted man,” said Nabeel Khoury, from the Atlantic Council think tank. The election success follows three years of weekly protests, with Sadrists rallying alongside communists to call for an overhaul of the political class. While Sadr has ruled himself out of becoming prime minister, he should become kingmaker and aims to form a technocratic government from a dozen parties.