Shiite clerics proclaim power in several cities

? In this holiest of Muslim Shiite cities, clerics are running a self-declared government. It’s the same in nearby Karbala, another sacred Shiite city.

Muslim Shiite clerics have in the past week moved swiftly to fill the power void created by Saddam Hussein’s ouster — appointing governors, imposing curfews, offering protection, jobs, health care and giving financial assistance to the needy.

In some respects, they have replaced Saddam as Iraq’s new leadership.

Ominously, they distrust the Americans who rid them of Saddam’s tyranny and have little faith in the opposition leaders now returning to Iraq from years in exile. They also question whether Western democratic values are suited for their country.

And, they seem unwilling to surrender authority to a central government they don’t like.

Shiites make up 60 percent of Iraq’s 24 million people, but have traditionally been pushed to the political sidelines by members of Islam’s mainstream Sunni sect, of which Saddam is a member. They have long complained of religious persecution under Saddam and erupted in jubilation at his downfall, practicing their rituals in public for the first time in years.

Scores of Shiite pilgrims can now be seen walking on highways and country roads to Najaf and Karbala, carrying the black flags that mourn the 7th century “martyrdom” of al-Hussein, one of the sect’s most revered saints. Al-Hussein’s shrine is in Karbala, while his father, Imam Ali, son-in-law of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, is buried in Najaf.

In the eastern city of Kut, Shiite Muslim cleric Said Abbas has occupied city hall to stake his claim to local control. Abbas insisted Wednesday that he was chosen to lead by Kut’s people, who he said don’t want the U.S. military to be in charge.

Twenty U.S. Marines had tried to enter city hall Tuesday, but decided against it after they were confronted by a crowd of about 1,200.

Abbas said Wednesday that he has nothing against the American presence as long as they “fulfill their promises” of liberation and democracy. “Let us live alone; let us decide what we want to do,” he said.

American officers contend Abbas is backed by Iran and has the support of only about 10 percent of townspeople.

Marines plan a meeting Saturday of local leaders to discuss how the city should be run, and Abbas said he would attend.