Sadrists urge parl. not to pass deal

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s politburo urged the Iraqi parliament on Monday not to pass the long-term security pact between Iraq and the United States otherwise it would “bring Iraq under U.S. hegemony indefinitely”. “The politburo board has received with deep regret the reported approval of the Iraqi government over the agreement with such a haste while we wished that the cabinet should have discussed Iraq’s future under this unfair agreement prior to its approval,” according to a Sadr’s office release received by IraqiNews.com. “Now that this agreement was referred to the parliament, we call on the representatives of the people and all political power in parliament to shoulder their national responsibility and reject this humiliating pact,” the statement read. The Iraqi cabinet had endorsed the controversial pact, also known as the status-of-forces agreement (SOFA), by an overwhelming majority of 27 votes to 1. AmR (P) 1