Tag "SOFA"
Press TV just published the following on its website: Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has set four conditions for any security pact between the US and Iraq, top Iraqi politician says. “The cleric stressed that any long-term pact in Iraq should maintain four key terms including safeguarding Iraqis’ interests, national sovereignty, national consensus and being presented to the Iraqi parliament for approval.” leader of the largest bloc in Iraq’s parliament,
Press TV reports: A top Iraqi member of parliament says the United State has asked the Iraqi government to establish 50 military bases throughout Iraq. The draft submitted by the US has demanded building 50 military bases, controlling of airspace by American forces and launching military operations from the bases without prior permission from the Iraqi government, Hassan Al-Sunaid, an Iraqi lawmaker and a member of Prime Minister Nouri Al
It’s official now: even the Iraqi government has rejected the US SOFA. The former Prime Minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari also condemned the SOFA as “undermining the Iraqi sovereignty”. Of course, that rejection should not be seen as some sudden outburst of patriotic fervor: the Maliki regime is a US stooge and that did not change overnight. But even a US stooge cannot openly defy a united Shia opposition to the SOFA.
That’s it. Moqtada al-Sadr and Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani are demanding a popular referendum on the SOFA the US is trying to impose on Iraq. By demanding a referendum the Shias are achieving three results: a) they are completely by-passing the National Assemblyb) they are making the SOFA an election issuec) any referendum on the SOFA will be a de-facto referendum on the US presence in Iraq The Imperial Command is
Following the lead of Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani and Moqtada al-Sadr, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Badr Organization, has now voiced his opposition to the US SOFA. This means that every major Shia faction in the country is now openly opposed to the US proposal. The USA wanted up at least 13 permanent military bases in Iraq and it demanded that US citizens be granted immunity from legal prosecution. It will
Press TV reports: Iraq’s most revered Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has strongly objected to a ‘security accord’ between the US and Iraq. The Grand Ayatollah has reiterated that he would not allow Iraq to sign such a deal with “the US occupiers” as long as he was alive, a source close to Ayatollah Sistani said. The source added the Grand Ayatollah had voiced his strong objection to the
