Iraqi Shiite Cleric Calls for Protests Against U.S. Presence

(Bloomberg) -- Iraqis should go out by the “millions” and hold peaceful protest to denounce the U.S. presence and its violations, according to Moqtada al-Sadr, one of the country’s senior Shiite clerics.

The country’s skies, land and sovereignty are being violated by the occupying forces, Sadr said in a tweet on Tuesday.

The comments follow a U.S. rejection of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s request to begin talks on the withdrawal of American troops. A deadly U.S. drone strike in Iraq earlier this month on Qassem Soleimani, who oversaw Iran’s foreign military operations, outraged Shiite politicians in Iraq, many of whom have close ties to Tehran.

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