Iraq cleric Sadr says militia will defend itself

By Khaled Farhan

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Anti-U.S. Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Sunday his feared Mehdi Army would defend itself against attack by the U.S. military or secular opponents, despite extending a ceasefire.

He appeared to be reacting to complaints by members of the militia that rival Shi'ite factions and the U.S. and Iraqi security forces could exploit the ceasefire to attack them.

The normally reclusive Sadr released his second statement in three days responding to a list of questions from followers, including whether his focus was now becoming more political and cultural since the ceasefire was extended.

"If a military war is conducted against us by the occupiers we will defend ourselves," Sadr said in the four-page statement bearing his personal seal.

"Self-defense against the occupiers is beyond discussion."

In February, Sadr extended a ceasefire first ordered last August for another six months, winning praise from Baghdad and Washington, who said it would help to cement security gains.

The ceasefire is seen as a key factor behind falling levels of violence across Iraq, along with the deployment of an extra 30,000 U.S. troops and the growing use of mainly Sunni Arab neighborhood security units.

But many of his tens of thousands of followers among young and poor Iraqis in Baghdad and the mainly Shi'ite south have questioned the truce.

"The freezing of the Mehdi Army does not mean it is turning into a humanitarian or cultural institution, rather it is a time for rehabilitating and reforming until further notice," said Sadr, who also commands a large bloc in parliament.

"If the West and the secularists conduct an ideological and cultural war against us and against Islam, we must be fortified to defend ourselves, religiously, ideologically and socially to stand in the face of the barbarians," he said.

Sadr led his militia in two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004. His followers often complain they are targeted for arrest by U.S. and Iraqi forces.

The U.S. military in turn says it targets only what it calls rogue elements or splinter groups among the Sadrists who have ignored the ceasefire.

On Friday, Sadr sought to explain his long absence to his followers. He said he had chosen to isolate himself to concentrate on his religious studies and to distance himself from splinter groups with their own agendas.

Sadr rarely issues public statements but the latest two were very similar in format, both containing what were described as questions from Sadrists followed by long answers laced with poetry and references from the Koran.

Sadr has not been seen in public since attending a religious ceremony in the holy city of Kufa on May 25, 2007.

(Additional reporting by Waleed Ibrahim and Mohammed Abbas in Baghdad; Writing by Paul Tait; Editing by Jon Boyle)