BAGHDAD: Anti-American Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr urged Iraq’s Parliament to reject the security pact with the US as tens of thousands of his followers marched yesterday through the streets of the Iraqi capital to reinforce that demand.
The impressive turnout points to trouble ahead for the security deal as Sunni and Shiite lawmakers weigh the political risks of supporting or opposing the far-reaching agreement.
The protesters, waving Iraqi flags and green Shiite banners, chanted slogans against the pact. The demonstration in the eastern part of Baghdad was staged under tight security, with army soldiers and police commandos manning checkpoints along the route and on rooftops.
“I am with every Sunni, Shiite or Christian who is opposed to the agreement ... and I reject, condemn and renounce the presence of occupying forces and bases on our beloved land,” Sadr said in a message read to the crowd on his behalf by a senior aide.
The pact, reached after months of bitter negotiations, governs the presence in Iraq of US troops after their UN mandate expires Dec. 31. It ran into controversy as soon as copies of the draft were made available this week, kicking off an intensely publicized debate among top politicians.
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said it was time for the leaders of Iraq and the United States to make up their minds. “It is time to take decisions. It is difficult to reopen the text,” Zebari said. “There is no hidden agenda. There is no permanent military presence. It is only for three years,” Zebari said.
A copy of the draft accord obtained by The Associated Press specifies that US troops must leave Iraqi cities by the end of June and be gone by 2012. It gives Iraq limited authority over US soldiers who commit serious crimes off duty and off base.
The pact must be ratified by the factious, 275-seat Iraqi Parliament, where it will collide with narrow partisan interests as well as sectarian and ethnic divisions that have defined Iraqi politics since the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein.
“I am confident that you brothers in Parliament will champion the will of the people over that of the occupier ... Do not betray the people,” Sadr warned, as the crowd chanted “Occupier, get out,” and “No, no to America. No, no to the agreement.”
The future of the accord is all the more uncertain since it must be decided in the shadow of provincial elections due by the end of January and national balloting sometime next year.
