Baghdad, July 02: Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has criticized Baghdad and Washington for their handling of the issue of US forces’ withdrawal from the country.
With at least 131,000 US forces remaining in Iraq, Sadr said the way US troops are leaving the country “shows that the (Iraqi) government and the occupation are not serious about the withdrawal.”
“The withdrawal should include all the occupation forces: army, intelligence, militias, and security companies and others. Otherwise, the withdrawal will be uncompleted and useless,” he added on his website on Wednesday.
US forces says they began leaving Iraqi cities and towns on Tuesday in accordance with the security agreement signed between Baghdad and Washington.
Under the agreement all US forces should be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.
Sadr warned that “If the occupation forces violate this claimed withdrawal, even with a government cover, then the people of Iraq will have all the right to express their opinion in a peaceful way.”
He also said the Iraqi people would have the right “to self-defense on condition of not harming the Iraqi people and the security forces.”
——Agencies