Iraqi cleric says his soldiers will fight if US troops stay too long
Iraqi cleric and leader of his own militia, Moqtada al-Sadr, has told the BBC he wants to see US troops out of the country by the end of the year.
He has threatened to rally his own army if the remaining 46,000 US troops in Iraq have not gone within 7 months.
He told the BBC he believed US forces would not stick to an agreement to withdraw from Iraq by January.
There has been a suggestion the Pentagon wants the Iraqi government to ask some US troops to stay beyond the deadline.
Thousands of Moqtada al-Sadr’s supporters, mostly members of his army, rallied in Baghdad on Thursday, calling for the Americans to get out.
They trampled on the flags of the US, UK and Israel.
Al-Sadr’s military force, the Mehdi Army, is still regarded as a fighting force to be reckoned with.