Lugar: War against Sadr in limbo

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Sunday U.S. efforts to defeat a rebel Iraqi cleric were not going well.

In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Ind., said "the progress" in U.S. efforts to beat Muqtada al-Sadr was "really is in limbo."

He described Sadr as "a very minor cleric" and regretted senior clerics, such as Ayatollah Ali Sistani, are out of the picture.

Sistani is in London where he underwent a successful heart procedure Saturday.

"Other clerics are deferring to the young Sadr because they really don't want to get Shiites disunited," said Lugar.

The fledging Iraqi government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, said Lugar, is left with the very tough task of taking on Sadr and going into the shrines. This, he said, was "alienating a good part of the 65 percent of the population, the Shiites."

Said Lugar: "(The Shiites) will see this as desecration of the shrine, whether it's done by Americans or Iraqis. It would be worse still if it were done by Americans."