BAGHDAD — Anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged Iraq’s parliament to reject a pact that would extend U.S. presence in Iraq for three years as tens of thousands of his followers marched through Baghdad’s streets Saturday to reinforce that demand.
The large turnout points to trouble ahead for the U.S.-Iraqi security deal as Sunni and Shiite lawmakers weigh the political risks associated with the far-reaching agreement.
Waving Iraqi flags and green Shiite banners, protesters chanted slogans condemning the pact. The demonstration in the mostly Shiite eastern part of Baghdad was staged under tight security, with soldiers and police manning checkpoints along the route.
“I am with every Sunni, Shiite or Christian who is opposed to the agreement . . . and I reject, condemn and renounce the presence of occupying forces and bases on our beloved land,” al-Sadr said in a message read to the crowd by a senior aide.
The pact, reached after months of bitter negotiations, governs the presence in Iraq of U.S. troops after their U.N. mandate expires Dec. 31. As copies of the draft became available last week, it sparked an intense public debate among top politicians.
A copy of the draft accord obtained by The Associated Press specifies that U.S. troops must leave Iraqi cities by the end of June and be gone from the country by 2012. It gives Iraq limited authority over off-duty, off-base U.S. soldiers who commit crimes. U.S. congressional approval is not required for the pact to take effect, but the Bush administration is trying to build maximum political support anyway.
In Iraq, the pact must be ratified by the 275-seat parliament — riven by the narrow partisan interests, sectarian and ethnic divisions that have defined Iraqi politics since the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein.
Next year’s provincial and national elections further complicate the pact’s approval.
Positions taken on the security pact could determine how Iraqi political parties fare at the ballot box, with most voters anxious to see U.S. troops leave and Iraq become a truly sovereign nation again.
“It is not going to be easy to have parliament adopt the agreement,” said senior Kurdish politician and lawmaker Mahmoud Othman, warning approval will probably be a drawn-out process.
That has left everyone hedging his position on the agreement — except for al-Sadr, who lives in Iran but controls 30 seats in parliament.
