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News ID: 53325
Publish Date : 23 May 2018 - 21:10

Sadr Bloc Denies Contact With U.S.

BGAGHDAD (Dispatches) – A top member of Iraqi Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s bloc quashed media rumors that his Sairoon alliance has had contacts with the United States after victory in the recent parliamentary election.
In an interview with al-Sumaria news, Dhiaa al-Asadi, head of the political bureau of Sadr’s bloc, denied reports of contact between his coalition members and Washington.
It came after Reuters quoted Asadi as saying that the U.S. has contacted members of Sadr’s political bloc and that intermediaries had been used to open channels with members of the Sairoon alliance.
"Some media outlets have quoted me as saying that Washington and members of Sairoon list are in contact. Such reports are totally baseless,” Asadi said.
Dismissing any channel between the Sadr party and Americans, he noted that Sairoon has rejected negotiations or cooperation with the U.S. even through intermediaries.
Muqtada al-Sadr's Sairoon coalition took 54 out of 328 seats in the May 12 parliamentary election in Iraq.
With no bloc winning the 165 seats required for an outright majority, negotiations to form a coalition government in Iraq are expected to drag on for weeks.
Sadr cannot be prime minister himself since he did not run in the election, but has been meeting the leaders of other blocs and setting conditions on his support for candidates for prime minister. He says he wants someone who rejects sectarianism, foreign interference and corruption in Iraq.
 "We remain open to meet and work with the government that is formed and given that Sairoon won the plurality of seats and they’ll certainly make up a part of this government,” said a U.S. official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The U.S. is eager and willing to meet with a variety of people who will be involved in the government and Sadr will be a player in that.”
The United States is believed to have some 7,000 troops in Iraq now, though the Pentagon has only acknowledged 5,200 troops. They are mostly training and advising Iraqi forces.
Sadr, long seen by Iraqi and U.S. officials as an unpredictable maverick, made his surprise comeback.
"His political views seem to vary, to put it kindly,” said another U.S. official involved in the effort to understand what Sadr is doing. "At this point, we don’t know what he really wants.”