BAGHDAD, 17 April 2007 — Moqtada Al-Sadr yesterday pulled his six ministers out of Iraq’s beleaguered coalition government as he pushed his demand for a rapid withdrawal of US troops from the country.
Sadr was angered last week when street protests failed to persuade Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki to set a timeline for American forces to go home.
Maliki welcomed the Sadr boycott, saying it will help speed up his much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle that would bring in “efficient ministers.” In a statement, Maliki said Sadr’s decision gave him “the task of selecting efficient ministers for the posts formerly occupied by ministers from the Sadr bloc, without reference to sectarian power-sharing policy.
“The prime minister appreciates the support of the Sadr bloc to the political process but stresses that a sectarian sharing policy was not the right option to help Iraq in the face of challenges and difficulties.” Maliki also stuck to his refusal to offer a timeline for a US withdrawal.
Sadr’s bloc is the largest single political group in Maliki’s fragmenting coalition, but the prime minister will be able to cling to power if he keeps the support of smaller Shiite and Kurdish groups.
