Shiite group warning over Bush meeting

Followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr today warned they will suspend their membership in parliament and the Iraqi Cabinet if prime minister Nouri Maliki meets US president George Bush in Jordan next week, a member of parliament said.

Bush and Maliki are set to meet next Wednesday and Thursday in Amman, the Jordanian capital.

The al-Sadr bloc in parliament and government is the back bone of Maliki’s political support, and its withdrawal, if only temporarily, would be a severe blow to the prime minister’s already shaky hold on power.

“If the security situation and services don’t improve, and if Mr prime minister does not cancel his meeting with Bush the criminal in Jordan, we will suspend our membership at the Council of Deputies (parliament) and government,” Qusai Abdul-Wahab, an al-Sadr follower, said.

The politicians said US forces were to blame for yesterday’s bombings in Sadr City that killed more than 200 people because they failed to provide security.

“We say occupation forces are fully responsible for these acts, and we call for the withdrawal of occupation forces or setting a timetable for their withdrawal,” Abdul-Wahab said.