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Sadr Condemns Murders and Rice Visit |
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Written by Al-Alam News
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Tuesday, 22 April 2008 |
Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has condemned the US occupation troops for their
indiscriminate killing of Iraqi people.
The cleric also condemned a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
who arrived in Baghdad on Sunday for unannounced talks with Iraqi leaders in
Baghdad's Green Zone.
Referring to clashes in Nasiriya on Saturday that left 16 people dead and
another 22 wounded, Al-Sadr said "the US troops killed them in the most gruesome
of ways and then burned them, and refused to hand over their pure bodies for
burial".
He called for three days of mourning and demanded Iraqi lawmakers condemn the
attacks and "put an end to such a massacre under government cover".
Earlier in the day, a lawmaker and member of al-Sadr's political bloc issued an
ultimatum demanding the US military immediately end its attacks on the Sadr
City, or "all options are open to us."
Sadrist lawmaker Fawzi Tarzi also condemned the government's call to disband al-Sadr's
Mehdi Army, saying that the demand "will mean the end of al-Maliki's
government."
"And therefore the siege of Sadr City and Shula should end immediately or all
options are open to us," Tarzi said. "There is a fierce military and media
campaign and a dirty political conspiracy planned and supported by the US
occupation against the Sadr trend."
Baghdad's Sadr City has been the scene of many clashes in recent weeks between
US troops and the Mehdi Army.
Tarzi called on humanitarian organizations and the world media to visit Sadr
City to see what he described as a "humanitarian tragedy."
The Baghdad neighborhood is plagued with "random airstrikes and raids," which
are causing a deteriorating humanitarian situation, he said.
More than 400 people have died and 1,300 have been wounded in the attacks, Tarzi
said, citing hospital figures.
Al-Sadr on Saturday gave his "last warning" to the Iraqi government that he
would "declare a war" unless US troops stop their assaults on his followers.
Loudspeakers at Sadr City mosques announced al-Sadr's warning Saturday evening,
calling for followers to fight the "occupier," a witness said.
According to the Interior Ministry, Saturday's Sadr City clashes killed nine
Iraqis and wounded 15 others. It said the clashes continued into Sunday morning.
US Secretary of State Rice is scheduled to be in Kuwait on Tuesday for the Iraqi
neighbors conference.
She said she hopes the conference will "reinforce the really significant
progress that Iraq has made since our meeting last November in Istanbul."
During a joint press conference with Rice, president Jalal Talabani announced
that Iraq's main Sunni Arab political bloc, which quit the government last year,
is close to rejoining and has submitted a list of candidates for ministerial
posts.
"The main obstacles have been lifted. The Accordance Front delivered the names
of their candidates for ministries to the prime minister. Two names for each
ministry," Talabani said.
As Rice met Maliki and other ministers, rockets could be heard hitting the Green
Zone government and diplomatic compound where the prime minister has his office.
Rice left the meeting about five minutes after an all-clear signal was given.
Source: Al-Alam News
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