Sadr urges Iraq not to sign US troop pact

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq's radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr called on the government on Thursday not to sign an accord being negotiated with Washington that will govern the presence of US troops from next year.

The security agreement was to have been sealed in principle by Thursday to take over from a UN mandate which expires this December, but Washington has said that date was unlikely to be met.

A US embassy official on Thursday confirmed to AFP that the negotiations were ongoing, describing them as "constructive."

"I call on the Iraqi government not to sign the accord with the United States and I affirm that I am ready to support the government publicly and politically if it does not sign," Sadr said in a statement.

The influential Shiite leader...