Al Sadr, New Powerhouse In Iraq, Condemns US Occupiers
(* We can thank Bush-Cheney for creating this potential monster)
Fri Jun 30, 9:57 AM ET
KUFA, Iraq (AFP) - Iraq's fiery Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has demanded the reconstruction of a revered Shiite shrine that was allegedly bombed by Al-Qaeda and the withdrawal of US troops from the country.
"We have said previously that the Iraqi government should rebuild the Shiite shrine in Samarra, but we have not seen anything but talk," he said in a sermon in the southern Shiite town of Kufa.
Sadr urged the people to help rebuild the shrine whose bombing in February triggered nationwide sectarian clashes between Shiites and Sunnis.
"From here (Kufa) I say that the believers, worshippers of Iraq and outside must register their names as volunteers to reconstruct and protect the shrine but they should wait for the permisssion from us to start work," Sadr said.
Iraqi authorities said Wednesday they had captured a Tunisian Al-Qaeda militant allegedly behind the bombing of the shrine in Samarra, north of the capital.
The radical cleric also rejected any reconciliation with the US authorities.
"I strongly reject reconciliation with three groups -- first the US, the nawasib (the killers of Shiites), and the Baathists" of the deposed Saddam Hussein regime, Sadr said.
"We demand that the occupiers leave and offer a timetable for their withdrawal and not extend their stay here," Sadr said, adding that de-Baathification must be activated fast and "their leader executed".
He also called for the release of detainees from Najaf who had fought the US forces during a rebellion in the summer of 2004. |
