Muqtada al-Sadr's Call For Protests Against Status of Forces Agreement

Translated by Nathaniel Rabkin

I have observed with great pleasure the issuing of both written and oral Fatwas prohibiting the security agreement or treaty between the forces of darkness, i.e., the occupation, and the current Iraqi government. I cannot stand idly by as I did before these blessed Fatwas were issued. I am obligated to provide my support, to the extent that I am able, making use of whatever popularity I may enjoy amongst the beloved Iraqi people, a people which has never betrayed me or its religious leadership [marjaiyah] at all. I have seen it fit to issue the following instructions and orders, addressed variously to the popular classes and the elite:

1) To raise the awareness of all classes of the people regarding the terms of the agreement and its dangers.

2) To bring about unified parliamentary and political action to unite the various political parties and groups against this agreement.

3) To escalate the media campaign, to be carried out by those with relevant expertise only.

4) To participate in weekly protests after prayers every Friday in all parts of Iraq. Each person should participate in these protests in his own place, until receiving further instructions or until the agreement is cancelled.

5) To undertake a popular referendum, if the government agrees to hold one. If it does not, the Offices of the Martyr Sadr all over Iraq and abroad must cooperate with other forces that oppose this agreement, and work to gather millions of signatures opposing it.

6) To form Iraqi political and religious delegations and send them to: a) Regional states, especially neighboring ones, calling on them to support the Iraqi people and stand with it against this agreement. b) Some western states, the United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Arab League, and the European Union, but not to any state that participated in the occupation of Iraq.

7) To renew the call in popular, political, and even religious terms for the occupier to leave or to create a timetable for the occupier’s withdrawal.

8) To warn the government against signing the agreement because it is against the interests of the Iraqi people, and to inform the government that it has no right to sign the agreement.

9) To seek a more active role for the Hawza [Shi’ite religious academy] and to request that the Hawza take a stand against this agreement as it sees appropriate.

Muqtada al-Sadr 21 Jumadi al-Awwal, 1429 [May 26, 2008]

What appears to be a scanned copy of this document, bearing Muqtada’s seal, was posted on the internet at: http://al3marh.net/news/article899.html