Report: Sadr movement to withdraw from Maliki government

Where's Sadr?: The US military says Sadr has left Iraq for Iran. Sadr's aides deny this, as does Tehran, but it has been months since Sadr appeared in public or attended prayers at his mosque outside Kufa. In April, 2004, the Coalition Provisional Authority issued an arrest warrant, alleging his involvement in a homicide, and U.S. military commanders expressed an intention to "capture or kill" him. No action was ever taken on the arrest warrant.

BAGHDAD, April 15 (Reuters) - The political movement of fiery Iraqi Shi'ite cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr said on Sunday it would pull out from the government on Monday to press its demand for a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal.

Officials from the movement, which holds six ministries and a quarter of the parliamentary seats in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite Alliance, said the formal announcement would be made on Monday at a news conference...

The move is unlikely to bring down the government, but it could create tensions in Maliki's fractious Shi'ite-led government of national unity at a time when it is trying to heal deep sectarian divisions.

Read the rest at Reuters

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