Sadrists demonstrate against U.S. deal

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Sadrists or Iraqis loyal to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr took to Baghdad streets in a demonstration against the security agreement that is scheduled to take place with the United States. “Nearly one million people took part in the demonstration against foreign presence in Iraq and the long-term security agreement that is scheduled to take place between Iraq and the United States,” the media director of al-Sadr’s office in Baghdad’s eastern side of Rasafa, Abu Zahraa, told IraqiNews.com. “Organizations and members of other groups and ethnicities, including Sunnis, Kurds and Christians, took part in the demonstration, in addition to a large number of chieftains, clerics and politicians,” the director explained. A correspondent for IraqiNews.com who attended the demonstration said that it had set off from al-Sadr’s office in Sadr city and marched toward al-Muthfar Square, one of the main entrances to the city. The demonstrators waved Iraqi flags and chanted anti-American slogans. Most of the main streets have been blocked to vehicle traffic, according to the correspondent. The U.S. and Iraqi governments are currently negotiating a security pact that would regulate the presence of foreign troops in the country after 2008. A declaration of principles was signed between U.S. President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in December 2007. The declaration was scheduled to be ratified on July 31, 2008 and to come into force as of January 1, 2009. The agreement governs the presence of U.S. forces in the country after 2008 and will not come into force without the approval of the Iraqi Parliament, which has 275 members from five blocs, in addition to the Sadrist movement and al-Fadhila party. The U.S. troops’ presence currently relies on a mandate by the United Nations and is annually renewed at the request of the Iraqi government. SS (S) 1