Islamic cleric Sadr says he is quitting politics; followers storm Cabinet HQ

BAGHDAD • Iraq's powerful Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said yesterday that he was quitting politics and closing his institutions in response to an intractable political deadlock, sparking clashes that killed two people and raising fears of more instability.

Sadr's supporters, who have been staging a weeks-long sit-in in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, a sprawling area of ministries and foreign missions, stormed the main Cabinet headquarters and demonstrated inside after his announcement.

Two people were killed and 19 injured yesterday in the clashes, involving Sadr's supporters and those of Iran-backed rivals. Gunfire echoed across central Baghdad, reporters said.

Iraq's army declared a nationwide curfew from 7pm local time after Sadr's supporters stormed the government building.

During a stalemate over forming a new government, Sadr had galvanised his legions of backers, throwing into disarray Iraq's effort to recover from decades of conflict and sanctions and its bid to tackle sectarian strife and rampant corruption.

The cleric was the biggest winner from an election last October but withdrew all his lawmakers from Parliament in June after he failed to form a government that excluded his rivals, mostly Iran-backed Shi'ite parties.

He has insisted on early elections and Parliament's dissolution. He says no politician who has been in power since the United States' invasion in 2003 can hold office.

"I hereby announce my final withdrawal," he said in a statement posted on Twitter, criticising fellow Shi'ite political leaders for failing to heed his calls for reform.

Sadr has withdrawn from politics or government in the past and also disbanded militias loyal to him. But he retains widespread influence over state institutions and controls a paramilitary group with thousands of members. He has often returned to political activity after similar statements, although the current political deadlock in Iraq seems harder to resolve than previous periods of dysfunction.

The impasse between Sadr and Shi'ite rivals has given Iraq its longest run without a government. Supporters of the cleric then stormed Baghdad's central government zone. Since then, they have occupied Parliament, halting the process to choose a new president and prime minister.

REUTERS