Muqtada Sadr is leading a campaign to bar US troops from cities and government buildings to pressure Baghdad and Washington to remove American forces from Iraq by year-end, reports said. Members of Sadr’s political movement have asked about 10 provincial councils in central and southern Iraq, including the capital, Baghdad, and the oil hub, Basra, to pass resolutions to keep US forces out of cities and Iraqi facilities. Last week Basra’s council approved such a resolution and demanded they leave any civilian buildings used as army bases, including the city airport, provincial officials said.
US soldiers protecting a provincial reconstruction team were asked to leave Basra council’s building or give up their weapons, officials said. Sadr’s demand that US forces leave by year-end and his threat to revive his Mehdi Army if they don’t are testing Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s fragile coalition. The remaining 47,000 US troops are due to leave Iraq by Dec. 31 under a bilateral security agreement. Al-Maliki has called on political leaders to discuss whether a contingent should stay on to support and train local armed forces.