Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Sadr bloc threatens to pull out of United Iraqi Alliance
Politics
(RFE/RL) - Representatives aligned with Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened to pull out of the United Iraqi Alliance on September 11, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq reported. Al-Sadr spokesman Salah al-Ubaydi told reporters at a press briefing in Al-Najaf that lawmakers were discussing a possible pullout with the cleric because the bloc is not satisfied with the government's performance.
Al-Ubaydi said the government has failed to achieve the minimum requirements in terms of security and public services. He also criticized the United Iraqi Alliance, saying the two major parties in the alliance, Prime Minister al-Maliki's Islamic Al-Da'wah Party and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, are monopolizing power and practicing a "double standard" policy. Al-Ubaydi criticized those parties' decision to join ranks with the leading Kurdish parties in parliament to form the so-called moderates' front, saying the two Shi'ite parties should have consulted all the parties in the alliance before reaching such an agreement.
Labels: Moqtada Al-Sadr, Najaf, Salah al-Ubaydi, United Iraqi Alliance
