U.S. military chief insists al-Sadr has fled Iraq

While it's not known exactly where Muqtada al-Sadr has fled, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad says one thing is certain the radical anti-U.S. cleric is no longer in Iraq.

"We will acknowledge that he is not in the country and all indications are in fact that he is in Iran," Maj.-Gen. William Caldwell told reporters on Wednesday from Baghdad. Caldwell added al-Sadr "left sometime last month."

The statement from Caldwell comes amid a series of claims and denials between U.S. officials and members of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.

U.S. officials reportedly believe al-Sadr has sought at least temporary shelter in Tehran, but al-Sadr's associates denied those reports, saying he remains in his home base at the holy city of Najaf in Iraq.

One Iraqi government official said al-Sadr was in fact still in Najaf as of Tuesday night to receive delegates from several government departments. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about his department's activities.

Lawmaker Nassar al-Rubaie insisted in an interview with the Associated Press that "the news is not accurate because Muqtada al-Sadr is still in Iraq and he did not visit any country."

A close aide who meets regularly with al-Sadr suggested the reports were intentionally spread by rumours from the Mahdi Army in order to misdirect U.S.-led forces about al-Sadr's whereabouts.

The aide said al-Sadr's people have been active in a campaign of misinformation to keep his location unknown, adding that al-Sadr sleeps in different places every night.

U.S. forces believe al-Sadr is in hiding outside Iraq to escape a U.S.-led security crackdown in Baghdad. Supporters of al-Sadr fear the black-turbaned cleric, who rarely appears in public, could be detained in the security sweep unless he keeps a low profile.

Al-Sadr was reportedly going to make a speech on Monday in Najaf to mark the anniversary of the bombing of an important Shiite shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad, but he did not do so. The anniversary fell on Monday, according to the Islamic lunar calendar.