Iraqi lawmakers backing anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Thursday they would disrupt the power-sharing government if it concludes any deal to keep US forces in Iraq after 2011. Iraq's government is in talks over whether US troops stay in the country past a 2011 withdrawal date, but the issue of immunity for American soldiers has stymied any agreement between Washington and Baghdad.
Sadr, whose Mehdi Army militia once battled US and Iraqi troops, has opposed any US military presence and his bloc is a key supporter of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the Iraqi parliament, which would have to decide on immunity. "We will stand with the Iraqi government if it is serious and determined to let the (US) occupier go, otherwise no," the head of Sadr's bloc, Bahaa al-Araji, said in a press conference. Iraqis and Americans are still trying to find common ground to keep some US forces in Iraq after the looming December 31 deadline.
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