Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr

Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr was a prominent, moderate Iraqi Shiite cleric. In his position as a widely-respected leader of the Shiite minority in Iraq, he publicly called for government reforms and release of detained Shiite leaders.

He was killed under mysterious circumstances in the Iraqi city of al-Najaf on February 19, 1999. Popular opinion among Shiites in Iraq, as well as many international observers, holds that the Iraqi government was implicated if not directly responsible.

Following the fall of Baghdad, the majority-Shiite suburb of Saddam City was unofficially but popularly renamed to Sadr City in his honor.