Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday renewed threats to resume attacks on US forces if they don't leave Iraq, deepening the unease over a proposed US-Iraqi security agreement that would allow American troops to stay for three more years. The threat came in a statement by the Iran-based cleric that was read to supporters gathered for Friday prayers in Baghdad's Shia Sadr City enclave and the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad. "I repeat my call on the occupier to get out from the land of our beloved Iraq, without retaining bases or signing agreements," al-Sadr said. "If they do stay, I urge the honorable resistance fighters ... to direct their weapons exclusively against the occupier."
The statement did not say exactly when and under what conditions such attacks might resume. Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia launched two uprisings against US forces in 2004 and another one this past spring. In July, al-Sadr said he was disbanding most of the militia, but would keep a small combat unit of seasoned and loyal fighters in case they are called upon to fight the Americans again. In Friday's statement, al-Sadr for the first time gave that unit a name: "The Promised Day Brigade."
He also called on breakaway groups from his militia to join the brigade. He was apparently referring to so-called "special groups," which the US military says are trained and armed by Iran to attack Americans. Al-Sadr opposes the US-Iraqi security agreement under which American troops would stay in Iraq until the end of 2011. The pact has yet to be approved by Iraq's Cabinet and parliament.
Meanwhile Iraq's top Shia Muslim cleric will leave it to the government to decide on a controversial US military pact, but associates of the reclusive leader said it must respect Iraqi sovereignty. Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani -- revered as the highest religious authority by Iraq's Shiite majority -- rarely involves himself in politics and usually communicates his views only through associates. "The Guide (Sistani) called for general elections which produced the country's government and the parliament," a religious official close to Sistani told AFP on condition of anonymity.