Al-Sadr: took advantage of my presence to end corruption

Shafaq News/ The leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, called for dissolving the Iraqi Parliament and holding early elections.

Al-Sadr said, "What is happening is not a power struggle as they are promoting. If we want power, we do not withdraw 73 deputies from Parliament; my return came to enact a necessary law against normalization (with Israel)."

The Shiite cleric called for early elections and dissolving the Parliament, but he said he had not decided if he would participate in the next elections.

Concerning the initiatives to hold talks, Al-Sadr stressed, "it is pointless to have a dialogue with them (the Coordination Framework). Dialogue with them has been tried and has only brought ruin and dependence on the country."

"Reform does not come without sacrifice, and I'm fully prepared to be martyred for the sake of reform." He said.

"The revolution began with the Sadrist; the revolution will not exclude the corrupters from the Sadrist movement."

Addressing the Iraqis, Al-Sadr added, "took advantage of my presence to end corruption. However, the revolutionaries and the protesters must continue until demands are achieved."

Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad Monday in counter-protests as rival supporters of al-Sadr extended their sit-in in Parliament.

Almost ten months after Iraqis went to the polls, a political standoff pits two critical factions of the Shiite political scene, between the populist al-Sadr with a devoted following of millions, and the Coordination Framework, a consortium of mainly Iran-backed Shiite forces.

Amid the tensions, Ameri addressed an open letter to Sadr on Monday.

Noting that the tensions could boil over into violence, he called on his "brothers in the Sadrist movement and Coordination Framework to return to reason and wisdom, show restraint, and prioritize the country and people, through holding serious and constructive dialogue aimed at reaching solutions to disputes between them."