KARBALA, Iraq — The writing is literally on the walls of these vivid mosques, where worshipers pause in blasting sunlight to read the instructions pasted up by Shiite spiritual leaders.
In these primordial stirrings of government, the Shiite leaders have banned political parties, ordered bureaucrats back to work and warned the people against accepting humanitarian aid from anywhere other than a mosque.
"The clergy are leading the nation politically," reads a mimeographed poster with an edge of warning. "Be committed to the religious leadership."
While at least some Shiites attended a U.S.-sponsored meeting Monday on building a transitional government for Iraq, many of the sect's leaders are determined to forge an Islamic government from the remains of Saddam Hussein's broken regime.
As the days go by, the euphoria of sudden freedom has given way to anti-Americanism and a hardening of religious pride among the nation's 16 million Shiites, who constitute a majority in Iraq.
Some Shiite strongholds have become de facto Islamic protectorates, where mosque leaders disburse everything from police patrols to television programming -- and where U.S. troops mostly stay out of sight on the outskirts of town.
In the absence of government, the Shiite leaders have claimed widespread power, and they appear determined to maintain their newfound clout.
"If [the United States] imposes a secular government that doesn't respect the principles of Islam, we will resist it," Abdul Mohdi, the chief religious leader of Karbala, said last week.
"The people trust the clergy. The clergy will offer them the right path. We want the American troops off our soil," Mohdi said.
This sort of talk clashes with the U.S. plans, which call for a democracy in Iraq.
But resistance is a time-honored tradition in the Shiite-dominated south, and the bloody lessons of recent history have bred heavy skepticism about U.S. intentions.
"They could cause a lot of trouble for the Americans. There will be resistance from the Shiites," said Saad Naji Jawad, a political science professor at Baghdad University.
"There will be clashes in the south. I am sure of it," Jawad said. "Sooner or later the Americans will have to use force."
On Friday, the self-declared governor of Al Kut left a government office under threat of arrest by U.S. Marines.
It is not clear how successful the Shiites will be, or whether the majority will fall in with their religious leaders' call for Islamic rule.
