Sadr, in reported statement, renews demand for US forces to leave Iraq

Where's Sadr?: Last month a US military spokesman said that Sadr had left Iraq for Iran. Sadr's aides deny this, as does Tehran, but it has been many weeks since Sadr appeared in public or attended prayers at his mosque outside Kufa.


NAJAF, Iraq - Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose whereabouts remain a mystery three weeks after US commanders said he had fled to Iran, renewed his demand on Thursday that US forces should leave Iraq.

In a message distributed by his office in Najaf to mark Friday's Arbaeen religious holiday, Sadr told his countrymen: "Raise your voices shouting 'No, no to America. No, no to Israel'."

"Use this great occasion to demand the occupier leaves our dear Iraq so that we could live in independence and stability," said the statement, which was stamped with his seal but not signed in ink.

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