There was only one serious incident, a skirmish in early April 2004 involving radical Shiites in Najaf, which left 1 dead Salvadoran soldier and at least 19 dead Iraqis.

While Syrian and Lebanese forces have disarmed other militias, like Amal, they have equipped and aided the radical Shiites, Israeli officials said.

But unlike previous attacks, this one was in a predominantly Shiite Muslim area, Sadr City, raising the possibility of involvement by radical Shiites.

On 29 January 2009 he celebrated the 80th birthday of Faurisson in his theater, in the midst of a representative gathering of Holocaust deniers, right-wing radicals, and radical Shiites.

Although we are responsible for the catastrophe in Iraq, Iraq's Baathists, militant Sunnis and radical Shiites harbor national ambitions and are fighting invaders - that's us - on their own land.

Some Iraqis expressed concern that the more radical Shiites, notably the followers of Moktada al-Sadr, would be difficult to control once the election is over.

But the radical Shiites refused the Reagan Administration's public demand that the Americans kidnapped in Beirut be released with the hostages on the plane, and the D.E.A. agents' operation fizzled.

A rise to power by the brutal Shining Path could destabilize the region the same way the ascendance of radical Shiites did in Iran in the 1970's.

These days, even radical Shiites appear ready to use legitimate politics to ensure that Shiites seize majority rule of the country.

Security officials in several countries have suggested that the Lebanese, Mohammed Ali Hamadei, may have been involved in a new terrorist offensive by radical Lebanese Shiites.