Editing Soldiers of Heaven (section)

==Leadership==
Dia Abdul-Zahra, also known as Abu Kamar, claimed to be the [[Mahdi]], a messiah-like figure in Islam.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081007223956/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2572582,00.html Iraqi cult and its 'messiah' destroyed near Najaf], Times Online UK, 29 January 2007</ref> Iraqi officials have claimed that [[Ahmed al-Hassan]], another leader in the group involved in the fighting against American and Iraqi forces, and was also a participant in the fighting in Najaf, is actually a Sunni pretending to be a Shiite, with an Iraqi general from the [[Babil Governorate]] telling the [[New York Times]] in an interview, "He is a [[Wahhabi]] he is from a Sunni town". Two rival Shiite clerics also made these claims regarding Hassan denying he was a Shiite, however other Shiite clerics have stated Hassan studied at a Shiite seminary in Najaf but later broke off from it. Iraqi MP [[Jalal al-Din Ali al-Saghir]] said regarding Hassan "I am 100 percent sure that the group's deputy was a security officer with the [[Ba'athist Iraq|old regime]]."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/world/middleeast/01iraq.html?_r=2&ref=middleeast&oref=slogin&oref=slogin|title = Mystery Arises over Identity of Militia Chief in Najaf Fight|newspaper = The New York Times|date = February 2007|last1 = Cave|first1 = Damien}}</ref>