BAGHDAD, April 26: The rise of self-proclaimed leaders and Muslim clerics in Iraq is providing a major challenge to US efforts to introduce democracy but avert the establishment of a fundamentalist state.

Self-declared mayors have taken over in Baghdad and Kut, near the border with Iran, despite US hostility and any evidence that democratic elections were held.

In Najaf in the south and Mosul in the north, Shia Muslim clerics are vying for power as US troops look on.

In other towns, villages and cities it is not clear who is in charge in the chaos following the removal of Saddam Hussein and his loyalists from power in the three-week US-led war.

The United States is watching anxiously, wary it will fuel tensions and spark more anti-American protests if it intervenes, but also concerned that Iraq could become subject to Iranian influence it does not.

“We have got to allow a period of time where people who have not been able to say anything publicly are allowed to get on the street and vent a bit of fury,” said Tim Cross, a senior member of the US-led team overseeing Iraq’s reconstruction.

“Clearly there are dangers. Of course there are and I do not want to see Iraq become a fundamentalist state,” he said.

Preventing the creation of a Muslim state may be difficult. Shia Muslims make up 60 percent of Iraq’s 26 million population and, although they are divided, should do well in free elections.

Shia clerics have called for harmony with Sunni Muslims, despite years of repression of the Shias under Saddam, a Sunni.

Jay Garner, the retired US general leading an interim administration until an Iraqi government takes charge, is calling for a government that is a “mosaic” of the different ethnic, religious and political groups in Iraq.

So far, the mosaic of postwar Iraq is one of chaos. Garner is due to meet various Iraqi political groupings in Baghdad on Monday to discuss Iraq’s political future, following initial talks two weeks ago near Nassiriya in southern Iraq.

EMBARRASSMENT FOR US FORCES: The emergence of Mohammed Mohsen Zubaidi in Baghdad has been an embarrassment for the United States. He declared himself the mayor of the capital this month and seems determined to ignore US threats to oust him if Baghdad residents reject him.

Zubaidi says he was elected by people representing clerics, academics, Shia and Sunni Muslims, Christians, writers and journalists, but he has not said how or when a vote took place or who organised it.

“We do realise there is tremendous confusion that needs to be clarified,” Major General Carl Strock, senior engineering adviser in Garner’s team, said on Saturday.

In Kut, 170 km southeast of Baghdad, Said Abbas installed himself as mayor despite the presence of US troops around the city. He calls himself the “father of the people” and his offices in city hall are guarded by Shia followers.

Marines man bridges at sandbagged gun positions, patrol the streets on foot or in armoured vehicles and make house-to-house weapons searches. They avoid city hall for fear of sparking a bloodbath with the men who vow to defend Abbas with their lives.

“There was no time to wait for elections. What was needed was a man to run things because everything was in chaos,” Abbas told Reuters said in his office at city hall.

A US Marines officer retorted: “He is only in a building. The authority of the city is wherever the US military is.”

Kut is particularly sensitive because it is only 60 km from the border with Iran.

The United States is worried by the connections of Iraq’s Shias to Iran which the United States labelled part of an axis along with Iraq and North Korea.

“The Iraqis want peace. It’s the Iranians who are the troublemakers,” US Lieutenant Jamie Murphy said in Kut.

RELIGIOUS, ETHNIC RIVALRIES: In Najaf, 160 km south of Baghdad, Shia clerics have taken charge without consulting the US troops still camped outside.

The American forces consider a retired Iraqi army colonel, Abdul Mun’im, to be the mayor. He presides over a council of elders including Shia clerics.

It is unclear how he became mayor. The US forces said only that he emerged as a leader over the past few weeks and was vetted by special forces who continued to “liaise” with him.

“I’m not here to run his government, I’m just here to allow him the freedom to be able to do it,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Conlin, commanding officer of 1st Battalion, 7th Marines.

Confusing matters, the Shias in Najaf are divided over who they want to be in charge. Some support Moqtada al-Sadr, the 22-year-old son of a murdered spiritual leader, and others favour moderate cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. In Mosul, rival groups are vying for power and tension between the majority Arabs and the Kurdish minority in the region is a problem.

US forces in Mosul have been following a gentle approach to the rival factions, trying to win local support and restore civilian services before disarming the groups.—Reuters