THE AL-SADR FACTOR.

PILGRIMS & pilgrimages; RELIGIOUS processions; SHIITES -- Wounds & injuries; IRAQ -- Politics & government -- 2003-; SUNNITES; SHIITES; SADR, Moqtada, 1973-; COLLECTIVE behavior

Allbritton, Christopher; Ghosh, Aparisim; Jasim, Meitham

Discusses the political implications of the stampede in Baghdad, Iraq that killed nearly one thousand Shi'ite pilgrims. Background on the stampede; Public outrage at the Shi'ite-led government's handling of the disaster; Possibility that voters will express their anger by rejecting Iraq's proposed constitution; How the disaster could provide fuel for efforts by Sunni opponents of the proposed constitution to court Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shi'ite cleric who has twice led armed uprisings against U.S. troops.