By Prensa Latina,
Baghdad : A spokesman for cleric Muqtada al Sadr called Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki’s conditions to end the military campaign against the Al Mahdi Army “illegitimate” on Monday.
Maliki’s terms are to lay down arms, non-interference in government affairs, non-interference in Police and Army duties and the handing over of wanted militiamen.
The terms were announced on Saturday after several weeks of fierce
clashes between the Al Mahdi Army and joint US-Iraqi forces, which
left over 400 victims in Sadr City neighborhood in Baghdad.
Today occupation forces in an Abrams M1A12 vehicle opened fire with a 120mm cannon in that locality, killing 38 people, according to
official sources.
Another official text says that US troops killed 16 people in
clashes in other Muslim Shiite communities, also in northeastern
Baghdad.
Sadr City militias and the population in general reject the
presence of joint US-Iraqi troops, which have killed civilians in the
streets and shelled their homes.