Groundhog Day: Sadr's movement pulls out of Iraq alliance

[cali]

By Dominic Evans and Waleed Ibrahim
Sat Sep 15, 3:23 PM ET



BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The political movement loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr quit Iraq's ruling Shi'ite Alliance on Saturday, leaving Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition in a precarious position in parliament.

The move further weakens the ruling coalition, which even before the defection had failed to push through laws aimed at reconciling Iraq's warring majority Shi'ite and minority Sunni Arabs.

Maliki's government now enjoys the support of only about half of Iraq's 275 lawmakers, although it could survive with the support of a handful of independent lawmakers.

The political committee has declared the withdrawal of the Sadr bloc from the (Shi'ite) alliance because there was no visible indication that the demands of Sadr's bloc were being met," the Sadr movement said in a statement released at a news conference in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070915/ts_nm/iraq_dc

Love that progress in Iraq.

[frogcycle]

1. of course it may be a matter of journalistic hyperbole - or just misstatement

but this sentence, if accurate, pretty much indicates that they have no idea what a democracy is:

"The political committee has declared the withdrawal of the Sadr bloc from the (Shi'ite) alliance because there was no visible indication that the demands of Sadr's bloc were being met,"

Unfortunately, that may be because they are looking at the US for a model.

[cali]

2. good observation n/t