After suffering a variety of ill effects under the government of Saddam Hussein (a Sunni), Shi'as in the district claimed a degree of autonomy from the rest of Iraq after the fall of Baghdad in April 2003, with their own police force, clinics, and food distribution. At the same time, the city was renamed Sadr City, after Ayatollah Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr.
The city is apparently run by local Shi'a clerics, who claim to take orders from upper-level Shi'a clerics in Najaf. They indicate that it is uncertain whether the city will return to the control of a national civil government if one is established.
The Globe and Mail article on Saddam City
Saddam City was also the name given to Kuwait City during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait.
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