Iraq's Shiite cleric reiterates decision to quit politics

Iraq's firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr confirmed on Tuesday his decision to leave political life and close his political offices, including a parliamentary movement using his name. "I won't retract my decision to leave the political process, and I am proud of my decision, and if there is any honest political figures, let them continue to work away from me," Sadr said in a televised statement. Sadr criticized the country's political process, saying that Iraq now was normal life, public services and security, and that the election process cost thousands of lives and produced "a government which does not care (for the people), and a parliament which cannot defend itself." However, Sadr called on the Iraqi people to participate in the upcoming elections, saying "we believe that you must participate in order not to let the government fall in the hands of dishonest and crafty people." He also said that he himself will vote in the elections and warned that those who won't vote will be considered as "betraying" Iraq and its people. On Sunday, Sadr announced that he decided to leave politics in order to stop the "evil acts" by some people under the name of his Sadr family. "I announce that I do not intervene in public political affairs, and there is no bloc would represent us anymore, nor any position inside and outside the government and the parliament," Sadr said in a statement posted on his official website. Sadr's move had an immediate impact on Iraq's political scene. At least eight members of parliament in his political bloc, al- Ahrar, resigned after losing their religious legitimacy following Sadr's withdrawal. Sadr's group currently holds 40 seats in the 325-member parliament as well as six cabinet posts in Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki's Shiite-led government. Observers expect that more members of parliament in Sadr's bloc and allied politicians will resign. Sadr is known for his stance against Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki's attempt to seek a third term in the upcoming April 30 elections. His withdrawal could affect Maliki's re-election bid, according to local observers. Moqtada al-Sadr, 40, is the son of a prominent Shiite leader, Ayatollah Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, who was murdered presumably by the regime of Saddam Hussein in 1999. Succeeding his father's career, al-Sadr became the head of the al-Sadr group. He was also enrolled at the Najaf Hawza Seminary and then in Iran's Qum Hawza Seminary.