Al-Sadr warns Maliki of Iraqi Spring

The Shiite cleric, Muktada al-Sadr has called on Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki to quit as the country's leader, adding that the Iraqi Spring is coming soon. In a press call at his headquarters in Najaf, al-Sadr explained that demonstrators carrying pictures of former Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, and their sectarian slogans prevented him from participating in the al-Anbar protest. He called on the activists to stop sectarian chanting. Al-Sadr said that Maliki needs to respect his political partners, stressing that, "Maliki should realise that the Iraqi government is not only a Shiite government but it is a government for all the Iraqi components." Furthermore, he called on Maliki to give a chance to his political partners to build Iraq, and criticised the performance of the Iraqi government for "marginalising all the ministers and political blocs participating in the Iraqi political arena." Maliki should be "aware that it isn’t a Shiite government and should liberate the judiciary," the cleric said. Al-Sadr also emphasised the importance of providing basic services for the Iraqi citizen, noting that the impact last week's rain proves that the government is failing.