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Sadr denounces 'terrorist' Gates
12/04/2008 21:09 - (SA)
Najaf - Iraq's hardline Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday lashed out at Robert Gates, saying the US defence secretary will always remain his enemy because he is the occupier of Iraq.
"You have always been my enemy. And you will always be my enemy till the last drop of my blood," Sadr said in a statement.
He was reacting to comments by Gates in which he reportedly said, referring to Sadr, that those who were prepared to work peacefully "within the political process in Iraq" are not the enemies of the United States.
"Which political process do you want to involve me in when you are occupying my land," Sadr asked. 'I have no enemy but you'
"I heard the statement of the terrorist American defence minister and I feel compelled to give a decent response to such a terrorist. I have no enemy but you. You are the occupier.
Sadr said he will keep resisting the US presence in Iraq in a "way that we consider suitable."
The cleric also told his Mahdi Army militia, currently engaged in fierce battles with Iraqi and US forces, that he will no longer accept "any armed men on the streets when they are empty of the occupier".
"If the occupier leaves the cities, we should not use our weapons. Don't raise you weapons against Iraqis as long as they don't help the occupier. "I also call on the Iraqi government to back its people to rid the land of the occupier."
Sadr launched two fierce rebellions in Najaf against the US military in 2004 in which many of his men were killed.
Since then the young cleric has gained a national aura that few politicians have been able to match.
He particularly holds sway over the young, impoverished people from Baghdad's eastern district of Sadr City which since Sunday has been the site of fierce battles with security forces in which around 90 people have been killed.
- AFP
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