Badr strongman Amiri faces dissent within his group's ranks
Powerful Iraqi politician Hadi al-Amiri is up against strong opposition within his own Badr Organization, as hundreds of members accuse him of being corrupt and exploiting power.
Hundreds of current and former members of the Badr Organization protested April 13 in downtown Baghdad demanding long-overdue financial compensation for their combat service against Saddam Hussein, whose regime was toppled in 2003. However, security forces affiliated with the party's leader, Hadi al-Amiri, used violence to deter protesters, and a number of demonstrators were jailed for days.
The protests failed to get coverage in local Iraqi newspapers and media outlets because of Amiri's political influence, according to participants and organizers.
Amiri doesn't seem to have earned the confidence of ex-combatants who fought by his side against Saddam’s regime in the 1980s. They blame him for their marginalization and lack of compensation.
The Badr Organization was founded in 1982-83 as a military group in Iran. After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Badr turned into a civil organization that ran all elections in Iraq. Amiri has been heading the organization since early in its founding days.
