The Asharq al-Awsat newspaper has reported that Abu Deraa, who fled to the Islamic Republic in early 2007, was back in Sadr City. That's the stronghold of one-time Shiite firebrand Moqtada Sadr who has become a key figure in efforts to form a coalition government in Iraq.

Before Abu Deraa fled from U.S. forces, he was one of the commanders of Sadr's Shiite militia known as the Mehdi Army that twice launched insurgencies against U.S. forces.

There has been no confirmation by U.S. nor Iraqi forces that Abu Deraa has returned to his old killing ground of 2004-07. But the U.S. global security consultancy Stratfor says "he has apparently returned … under Iranian protection."

That has an ominous ring to it. U.S. military commanders say that Iran has been arming, funding and possibly even directing Shiite groups who are killing political opponents of the cross-sectarian coalition headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shiite and former CIA asset.

His Iraqiya bloc, which has a strong Sunni component, is battling with the Shiite State of Law coalition, led by incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, supported by Tehran, for leadership of a new government.

The two parties emerged as the leaders in March 7 parliamentary elections, Iraqiya with 91 seats in the 280-member national assembly, State of Law with 89. Sadr's Iraqi National Alliance bloc came third with 41 seats any may yet be the kingmaker.

However, negotiations to form a governing coalition have foundered amid an upsurge in violence in which hundreds of people have died, with Allawi's loyalists, especially the Sunnis, major targets.

The reported return of such a high-profile warlord as Abu Deraa, under Iranian auspices, at such a sensitive time with Tehran seeking to consolidate Shiite rule could mean that attacks on Sunnis and their moderate Shiite allies could escalate.

"The timing of Abu Deraa's return to Iraq was likely carefully deliberated by Iran," Stratfor commented in an Aug. 19 report, at a time when "the United States is about to complete a major phase of its war effort in Iraq …

"Though the United States has imposed a level of stability in Iraq to allow for this phase of the withdrawal, the mission is still far from finished," Stratfor cautioned.

"Most notably, the Iraqi government remains in complete flux, with Iranian-backed political forces blocking an attempt by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria and others to ensure a prominent place for Iraq's Sunnis in the ruling coalition."

Before Abu Deraa got lost in 2007, Maliki's security forces, composed primarily of hard-line Shiites opposed to any political participation by the Sunni minority, repeatedly failed to kill or capture him.

Indeed, they were widely believed to have turned a blind eye to his murderous rampage in which hundreds, possibly thousands, of men, women and children died often in the most barbaric manner.

Abu Deraa, which means "Father of the Shield" in Arabic, is a nom de guerre. His real name, depending to whom one talks, is either Ismail al-Lami, twice married with at least a dozen children, or Ismail Hafidh.

But most accounts agree that his father was fishmonger, a trade that Abu Deraa, believed to be in his late 40s, plied for a time.

All manner of myths and rumors swirl around this mysterious figure and it's difficult to separate fact from fiction. He remains an elusive, bogey-man figure. He has given no interviews, remaining in the shadows and leaving his actions to speak for him.

Most of the Sunni victims of Abu Deraa's group were tortured before they were killed. Bodies were found dumped in the streets, pierced by nails and bolts or bored by hand-held electric drills. Many of the victims were shot but some were found with their heads crushed by cement blocks. Many were decapitated.

In those days, the bodies from Abu Deraa's depredations were usually dumped on a stretch of waste ground known as al-Saddeh on the outskirts of Sadr City.

It became known with macabre ghetto humor as "Happiness Hotel."

related report
Iraq Shiite leader sees end to political impasse 'in days'
An Iraqi Shiite leader, Ammar al-Hakim, said on Monday the long-delayed formation of a new government could be resolved within days but refused to be drawn on the name of the next prime minister.

"We have started to reach the end of the tunnel. In the next few days, we are heading toward resolving the issue and accelerating the formation of a new cabinet," Hakim told a news conference in Kuwait City.

Hakim, who heads the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, declined to say if his election coalition Iraqi National Alliance (INA), which came third in Iraq's March 7 legislative poll, would support Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

"So far, there has been no agreement on any specific name" to be the next prime minister, Hakim said, asked if his group would support Maliki for a second term.

"But this is what we are going to resolve in the coming days ... INA has been, and is still negotiating, for an acceptable personality. We are still hearing clear and significant opposition" to Maliki, he said.

Hakim proposed "a broad-based coalition government. It is not possible for a group, party or sect to take over the country and leave out others."

His group has called for roundtable talks between parties, added the influential Shiite leader, who said he had met with Kuwaiti leaders including the emir and the prime minister.

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