BAGHDAD - Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers to withdraw from
Iraq's coalition government on Monday, the head of his parliamentary bloc said.
The move, while unlikely to topple Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's regime, would deal a significant blow to the U.S.-backed leader, who relied on support from the Sadrists to gain office.
Al-Sadr's ministers will "withdraw immediately from the Iraqi government and give the six Cabinet seats to the government, with the hope that they will be given to independents who represent the will of the people," said Nassar al-Rubaie, head of al-Sadr's bloc, reading a statement from the cleric.
Al-Sadr, who wields tremendous power among Iraq's majority Shiites, has been upset about recent arrests of his Mahdi Army fighters in the U.S.-led Baghdad security crackdown. He and his followers have also criticized al-Maliki for failing to back calls for a timetable for U.S. troops to leave the country.
Meanwhile, thousands upset about poor city services marched peacefully through the streets of Iraq's second largest city on Monday, demanding the provincial governor's resignation despite calls by top government officials a day earlier to call off the protest.
Some 3,000 demonstrators gathered near the Basra mosque, then marched a few hundred yards to Gov. Mohammed al-Waili's office, which was surrounded by Iraqi soldiers and police officers. The protest ended without incident a few hours later.
Residents have complained of inadequate electricity, garbage disposal and water supplies in Basra, situated 340 miles southeast of Baghdad.
