PM al-Maliki lashes out at Muqtada al-Sadr

One of al-Maliki’s harshest critics is Muqtada al-Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who is also trying to build an alliance with Sunni parties. According to the Iraqi media, Sadr criticized the trip to the country whose troops occupied Iraq from 2003 to 2011, playing on anti-American sentiment that remains strong in many communities.

A Member of Parliament from Al Ahrar Bloc affiliated with the Sadrist Movement stated on Wednesday, October 30 that Al Maliki’s visit to the United States of America will only wreak havoc and destruction for Iraq; questioning the Cabinet’s approval of the invitation. 

“Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki’s visit to the United States of American, alongside an official delegation, will only bring destruction and ruin onto Iraq”, said Hussein Al Sharifi in a press release issued today and of which Alsumaria received a copy. He also announced that he “denounced this visit”.

“America was recently occupying Iraq as it destructed its infrastructure, stole its riches and spread a terroristic phenomenon that reaps the soul of Iraqis every day and further ignites the sectarian strife”, added Al Sharifi. He also expressed his amazement that “the Cabinet accepted the American invitation”.

“Will the Government claim the rights of the Iraqis whose blood was shed by the occupants? Will the Iraqi Cabinet demand back the money that American soldiers stole from our country? Will the Prime Minister ask for the stolen archeological masterpieces? Will the Iraqi officials bring up the Black Water incident?” asked Al Sharifi, emphasizing that these topics will not be brought up during the visit.

On Monday, al-Maliki’s office lashed back in an unusually harshly worded statement, recalling the human rights abuses of both Sunni insurgents and militias associated with the Sadrist movement.

Sadr “has the right to exercise early electoral campaigning, but he should not belittle the Iraqis’ minds and memory... They also remember the control of (Sadr)’s militia that fostered murder, kidnapping and theft in Basra, Karbala, Baghdad and other provinces,” the statement said.

In a statement issued on Monday, Iraq’s Vice President Khudeir al-Khuzaie set April 30, 2014, as the date for the next national elections. Al-Maliki has not ruled out seeking a third term next year despite charges from opponents that his administration is a dictatorship in the making.

In the evening, Iraq’s parliament passed legislation to govern those elections. It increased the number of seats to 328 from the current 325, but otherwise was little different than the previous elections law.