One of Iraq's most influential Shia clerics, Moqtada al-Sadr, has reinvented himself as a reform champion.

Sadr gained widespread popularity in 2003, when when he gave his followers permission to loot the capital, Baghdad. He has repeatedly bowed in-and-out of politics over the years. The cleric recently called for protests and sit-ins to pressure the government to carry out reforms.

Sadr's interventions have revitalised Iraq's pro-reform protest movement. And they have also given him greater influence over government affairs.