Region | Iraq
Al Sadr asks parliament to reject US-Iraqi accord
Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr on Saturday called on Iraq's parliament to reject a US-Iraqi security pact as tens of thousands of his followers rallied in Baghdad against the deal.
- AP
- Published: 00:03 October 19, 2008
- Thousands of followers of Al Sadr demonstrate in Baghdad yesterday to protest a draft US-Iraqi security pact.
- Image Credit: AP
Baghdad: Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr on Saturday called on Iraq's parliament to reject a US-Iraqi security pact as tens of thousands of his followers rallied in Baghdad against the deal.
The mass public show of opposition came as US and Iraqi leaders face a December 31 deadline to agree on the deal, which would replace an expiring UN mandate authorising the US-led forces in Iraq.
Al Sadr's message was addressed to Iraqi lawmakers and read by his aide Shaikh Abdul Hadi Al Mohammadawi in Baghdad before a huge crowd of mostly young men waving Iraqi and green Shiite flags and chanting slogans including "no, no to the agreement" and "yes to Iraq".
"The Iraqi government has abandoned its duty before God and its people and referred the agreement to you knowing that ratifying it will stigmatise Iraq and its government for years to come," he said.
Al Sadr, who is living in Iran, also cast doubt on the Iraqi government's argument that the security pact is a step toward ending the US presence in Iraq. The deal would require US forces to leave by December 31, 2011, unless Iraq asked some of them to stay.
"If they tell you that the agreement ends the presence of the occupation, let me tell you that the occupier will retain its bases. And whoever tells you that it gives us sovereignty is a liar," Al Sadr's message said.
"I am confident that you brothers in parliament will champion the will of the people over that of the occupier... Do not betray the people."
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