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Sadr Talks Big to US Ambassador

While Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's popularity wanes, radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr looks to boost his own appeal with harsh words for the United States.
Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr speaks to the media during a visit to the Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad January 4, 2013.  REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: RELIGION) - RTR3C3HO
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Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr said June 30 that the future Iraqi prime minister, set to be appointed in 2014, will not deal with the White House, and that any candidate of his movement will “stand against the occupier.”

Sadr’s remarks came in response to a June statement by US Ambassador to Iraq Robert Stephen Beecroft, in which he stated, “The prime minister of the great state of Iraq has to deal with [the US].”

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