Sadr Calls on Iraqi Forces Not to Work With US

Ammar Karim
Sun Feb 25, 9:58 AM ET

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr urged Iraqi security forces not to work with US troops in enforcing a new Baghdad security plan, in a message read to his supporters on Sunday.

The Shiite firebrand's location has been a mystery for several weeks. Iraqi and US officials say he has decamped to Iran, a claim furiously denied by both Tehran and Sadr's movement.

On Sunday, Shiite cleric Abdulzahra al-Suweidi read a purported statement from his leader to a 1,000-strong crowd of cheering supporters in Sadr City, a bastion of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in east Baghdad.

"I say to the Iraqi security forces, police and army: 'You are able to protect Iraq and the Iraqi people with your faith, your sacrifice, and your patience and your unity'," Sadr said, according to the document.

"You don't need the occupiers with their tanks and their planes." >>>cont

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