Hardline Iraqi cleric bids to kill US pact in parliament
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
BAGHDAD, Nov 17 (AFP): Followers of anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr were to make a bid Monday to kill a controversial Iraq-US military pact passed by the Iraqi cabinet by trying to block it in parliament.
The Sadrist movement has vigorously opposed the wide-ranging agreement, which would replace a UN mandate that expires at the end of the year and allow US forces to remain in the country until the end of 2011.
Ahmed Masaudi, spokesman for Sadr's 30-member parliamentary bloc, said the movement would submit a bill that would require a two-thirds majority for parliamentary approval, replacing the current requirement of a simple majority.
"(The current law) is contrary to the constitution and to the instructions from the Guide, Sistani, to obtain a national consensus on this agreement," Masaudi said Sunday, referring to Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani.
Sistani, the country's most powerful Shiite cleric, has not taken a clear position on the agreement other than to say it should respect Iraq's "sovereignty" and has left the decision to approve the deal to elected leaders.
But Sadr and his followers have adamantly opposed concluding any agreement with the US "occupier" and have vowed to hold mass demonstrations to demand the immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces.
"The Sadr movement will use every legal avenue to work to stop this agreement," Masaudi said, adding that the group was determined to form an alliance inside parliament to kill the proposed pact.
The Sadrist movement has vigorously opposed the wide-ranging agreement, which would replace a UN mandate that expires at the end of the year and allow US forces to remain in the country until the end of 2011.
Ahmed Masaudi, spokesman for Sadr's 30-member parliamentary bloc, said the movement would submit a bill that would require a two-thirds majority for parliamentary approval, replacing the current requirement of a simple majority.
"(The current law) is contrary to the constitution and to the instructions from the Guide, Sistani, to obtain a national consensus on this agreement," Masaudi said Sunday, referring to Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani.
Sistani, the country's most powerful Shiite cleric, has not taken a clear position on the agreement other than to say it should respect Iraq's "sovereignty" and has left the decision to approve the deal to elected leaders.
But Sadr and his followers have adamantly opposed concluding any agreement with the US "occupier" and have vowed to hold mass demonstrations to demand the immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces.
"The Sadr movement will use every legal avenue to work to stop this agreement," Masaudi said, adding that the group was determined to form an alliance inside parliament to kill the proposed pact.