Sadr backs UN peacekeepers
2004-04-19 13:29
Najaf, Iraq - Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr has reversed his opposition to the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Iraq as long as certain conditions are met, a close aide said on Monday.
"We favour the despatch of such a force on condition that it be made up of Muslim countries or countries which did not join the occupation of Iraq, such as Russia, France or Germany," Qais al-Khazaali, spokesperson for Sadr's banned Mehdi Army militia said.
He also said the UN force must entrust law and order duties to Iraqi security forces.
Sadr, who is wanted in connection with the murder of a rival pro-US cleric, had previously rejected any role for the UN in Iraq, arguing that the world body was taking its orders from the US-led occupation forces.
In an interview with Bulgarian television broadcast on Sunday, Khazaali demanded UN troops replace the US-led coalition forces.
He said it was "in the interest of the whole world to send peacekeeping forces under the UN flag" to Iraq.
- AFP