Region | Iraq
Shiite cleric Sadr calls for 'civil revolt' in Iraq
Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr called on Iraqis to stage sit-ins and threatened a countrywide "civil revolt" if attacks by US and Iraqi security forces continue against his followers.
- Agencies
- Published: 15:50 March 25, 2008
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Najaf: Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr called on Iraqis to stage sit-ins and threatened a countrywide "civil revolt" if attacks by US and Iraqi security forces continue against his followers.
In a statement read out by senior aide Hazem Al Araji, Sadr said, "We call upon all Iraqis to stage sit-ins all over Iraq as a first step. And if the people's demands are not respected by the Iraqi government, the second step will be to declare civil revolt in Baghdad and all other provinces."
He also threatened a "third step", but said it was too early to announce what that would be.
Iraqi security forces launched a major crackdown on militia, including Sadr's Mehdi Army, in the southern oil city of Basra on Tuesday.
Sadr declared a ceasefire last August and extended it in February, but his followers took to the streets in several Baghdad neighbourhoods on Monday and Tuesday as part of what they called a "civil disobedience campaign", ordering shops to shut.
Sadr said, "We call upon all the religious, political and social figures to intervene to stop the attacks against our people, which have been supported by occupation forces."
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