Cabinet ministers loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will withdraw from the Iraqi government later Monday, the head of his parliamentary bloc said.Al-Sadr’s ministers will “withdraw immediately from the Iraqi government and give the six Cabinet seats to the government, with the hope that they will be given to independents who represent the will of the people,” said Nassar al-Rubaie, head of al-Sadr’s bloc, reading a statement from the cleric.
Al-Sadr, who wields tremendous power among Iraq’s majority Shiites, has been upset about recent arrests of his Mahdi Army fighters in the U.S.-led Baghdad security crackdown. He and his followers have also criticized Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for failing to back calls for a timetable for U.S. troops to leave the country.
The Sadrists hold six positions in the 37-member Cabinet, and 30 seats in the 275-member parliament. Monday’s move would affect only the Cabinet members.
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