Al-Sadr threatens 'open war'

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr tonight threatened a new uprising if a US-Iraqi crackdown against his followers continues.

The cleric said he is giving his final warning to the Iraqi government to stop working with the US military against him or he will “declare an open war until liberation.”

Today’s statement has been posted on al-Sadr’s website.

The threat to lift a more than seven-month-old ceasefire comes amid fighting between al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia and US-Iraqi troops in Baghdad’s Sadr City and the southern city of Basra.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki also has said the Sadrists will be politically isolated if the Mahdi Army is not disbanded.