17/11/2008 Iraqi cleric Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr said Monday that the Iraqi government's approval of the controversial Iraq-US military pact that seeks to organize the US occupation presence constituted "the first signs of disgrace and dishonor," calling on the Iraqi parliament to reject it "without hesitation."
 
In a statement it released on Monday, Sadr's office noted that the Iraqi government drew the first signs of disgrace while approving the agreement with the US occupier with the help of the coalition and some Kurdish parties. "Getting the occupation out of Iraq was an obvious national duty," the statement read, adding that it was legal and did not need any agreement with the US occupation.
 
The statement pointed out that the agreement was null and void, "as it means selling Iraq and its people just as other Muslim people and lands were sold previously."
  
The Sadrist movement has vigorously opposed the wide-ranging agreement, which would replace a UN mandate that expires at the end of the year and allow US occupation forces to remain in the country until the end of 2011.
  
Meanwhile, Ahmed Masaudi, spokesman for Sadr's 30-member parliamentary bloc, said the movement would submit a bill that would require a two-thirds majority for parliamentary approval, replacing the current requirement of a simple majority.
  
"(The current law) is contrary to the constitution and to the instructions Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, to obtain a national consensus on this agreement," Masaudi said on Sunday.
 
Sadr and his followers have adamantly opposed concluding any agreement with the US "occupier" and have vowed to hold mass demonstrations to demand the immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces.
  
"The Sadr movement will use every legal avenue to work to stop this agreement," Masaudi said, adding that the group was determined to form an alliance inside parliament to kill the proposed pact.”
  
The 275-member parliament holds a first reading of the proposed military accord on Monday, beginning a week-long process of deliberation leading to a final vote on November 24, the deputy speaker of parliament said on Sunday.
  
The pact was expected to pass parliament after winning approval from the Iraqi cabinet on Sunday with the support of the major political blocs.
  
If parliament approves the pact it would need to be ratified by Iraq's presidential council before Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki could sign the agreement with US President George W. Bush.