NAJAF - Hardline Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr threatened on Saturday to declare war if the crackdown by Iraqi and US forces against his loyalists continues.
"I am giving my last warning and my word to the Iraqi government to take the path of peace and stop violence against its own people, otherwise it will be a government of destruction," Sadr said in a statement issued by his office in the holy city of Najaf.
"If it does not stop the militias that have infiltrated the government, then we will declare an open war until liberation."
In his statement, addressed to the people of Iraq, the cleric lashed out at human rights groups.
"Gaza was surrounded and everybody kept quiet. And now it is (Sadr) City and Basra and everybody is quiet. Where are the human rights. Where are the laws you want to adopt for freedom and democracy?"
Since March 25, Iraqi and US forces are fighting street battles with Shiite militiamen, mostly from Sadr's Mahdi Army, in Sadr City.
The fighting began when premier Nuri al-Maliki launched a crackdown on Shiite militiamen in the southern city of Basra. The military assault quickly triggered clashes to other Shiite regions of Iraq, including Sadr City.
Sadr said he belonged to Iraq and vowed to continue to fight for the people of Iraq.
"They accuse me of belonging to Iran ... but I belong to only Iraq. I belong to the will of my people."
He also lashed out at the United States and at the government.
"The occupation has made us target of its planes, tanks, air strikes and snipers. Without our support this governnment would not have been formed. But with its alliance with the occupier it is not independent and sovereign, as we would like it to be," the cleric said.
He reiterated his demand for a timetable for the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces from Iraq.
pbz-jds/al
04/19/2008 19:27 GMT