Shiite clerics warn against accord
Critics say security deal serves U.S. interests, not Iraq

By The Associated Press

Published: November 8, 2008

BAGHDAD — Shiite clerics warned the Iraqi government Friday not to sign a security pact that would keep U.S. troops in Iraq until 2012, as the prime minister studied what U.S. officials called the final draft of the agreement.

Parliament must approve the agreement by year’s end when the U.N. mandate expires. Failure to approve the agreement or get the U.N. Security Council to issue a new mandate would force the U.S. to suspend operations in the country.

Several influential Shiite clerics criticized the agreement Friday, arguing that the deal serves U.S. interests more than those of Iraq.

"We renew our total refusal of the security agreement,” Sheik Assad al-Nasiri told worshippers in Kufa. In Baghdad’s Shiite slum of Sadr City, Sheik Sattar al-Battat maintained the deal infringes on Iraqi sovereignty, and would threaten other countries in the region.

Both preachers are followers of Iran-based cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who has opposed the U.S. presence.