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Al-Sadr Presses Against Deal

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Los Angeles Times

Published: October 19, 2008

BAGHDAD - Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr warned Iraqi lawmakers that approving a U.S. troop agreement would be tantamount to a betrayal of the Iraqi people, as his supporters rallied against the deal Saturday.

As many as 20,000 protesters shouted, "No, no, America!" in a visceral display of the deep apprehension among Iraqis over the security pact that would extend the U.S. military presence in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires in December.

Iraqi officials, even those close to the Americans, have been reluctant to back a deal that effectively could label them a puppet of foreign powers. The government's close relationship with the United States has given clout to al-Sadr, who has refused to cooperate with U.S. officials.

"They have portrayed this agreement in a manner as if it would end the presence of the occupation on our land, but the occupiers will remain with their bases, and anyone who tells you that this agreement will make us sovereign is a liar," al-Sadr said in a statement that was read by follower Sheik Abdul Hadi Mohamedawi to a sea of people waving red, white and black Iraqi flags.

The stage was populated by Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds, who delivered speeches denouncing the U.S.-Iraqi security pact in a square outside Mustansiriya University in eastern Baghdad.
Iraqi army checkpoints sealed off the square and the surrounding roads. The demonstrators had marched almost a mile from Sadr City, the slum that is home to more than 2.5 million people and the nexus of support for al-Sadr. One poster showed a U.S. soldier arresting an Iraqi, with the caption "Death to America."

Protesters said they wanted the Iraqi government to hear their voices. "This agreement gives the Americans the right to do whatever they want."

Speakers tapped into al-Sadr's image as a populist who waged two uprisings against the U.S. military in 2004. They highlighted his distance from Iraq's ruling clique in the fortresslike Green Zone enclave, home to both the Iraqi government and the Americans.

But the failure to attract a larger crowd was testament to the pressure on the movement since al-Sadr declared a freeze on his Mahdi Army militia in the spring. Since then, Sadr City has been surrounded with concrete walls and his supporters charge they have been targeted by Iraqi and U.S. forces.

Progress on the security agreement, which the United States had hoped to complete by the end of July, has stalled since the summer. A meeting of Iraq's political blocs Friday to review the latest draft failed to push the agreement forward.

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