Powerful Shia cleric Moqtada al-SadrÂ’s movement on Wednesday threatened to pull out of the Iraqi government after the prime minister opposed laying down a timetable for a US troop withdrawal. The threats came in a statement from the political committee of SadrÂ’s office, read to AFP over the telephone by MP Saleh Hassan Issa al-Igaili, a lawmaker of the Sadr bloc in IraqÂ’s parliament.
SadrÂ’s political group has 30 lawmakers in the 275-member parliament and six ministers in MalikiÂ’s coalition. Any walkout by the faction would be the second in less than five months and underscore the premierÂ’s vulnerability.
| Then again, it might free Maliki to open a can of whupass without a complaint from Sistani. |
“The Sadr trend strongly rejects the statement of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who adheres to the occupation forces remaining despite the will of the Iraqi people,” said Igaili, reading from the statement. “Therefore, the Sadr trend is studying the option of withdrawing from the Iraqi government, which failed to honour its obligations towards the citizens in providing security and public services,” the statement said. “We stress our intention to withdraw from the Iraqi government.”
The statement also lashed out at what it called “the unjust application” of an ongoing Iraqi and US security plan in Baghdad, which officials say has seen Sadr’s Mahdi Army melt away from the streets of the capital to avoid capture. |