Al-Sadr bloc threatens to leave Iraq government

by reposted

Wed, Apr 11, 2007 8:08AM

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi Cabinet ministers allied to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened Wednesday to quit the government to protest the prime minister’s lack of support for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal.

Such a pullout by the very bloc that put Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in office could collapse his already perilously weak government. The threat comes two months into a U.S. effort to pacify Baghdad in order to give al-Maliki’s government room to function.

Meanwhile, bodies lay scattered across two central Baghdad neighborhoods after a raging battle left 20 suspected insurgents and four Iraqi soldiers dead, and 16 U.S. soldiers wounded, witnesses and officials said.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18052800/

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§Sadr bloc threatens to quit Iraq government

by more

Wed, Apr 11, 2007 8:09AM

BAGHDAD (AFX) - Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's movement has 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 Sadr's office, read to AFP over the telephone by MP Saleh Hassan Issa al-Igaili, a lawmaker of the Sadr bloc in Iraq's parliament.

Sadr's political group has 30 lawmakers in the 275-member parliament and six ministers in Maliki's coalition. Any walkout by the faction would be the second in less than five months and underscore the premier's vulnerability.

'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.

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http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2007/04/11/afx3601329.html

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