Iraq Shiite leader: government should quit

BAGHDAD, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Iraqi Shiite rebel leader Moqtada al-Sadr Saturday demanded the resignation of the Iraqi government, saying he was speaking on behalf of the Iraqi people.

Al-Sadr told the Qatar-based al-Jazeera news channel he was "relaying a popular demand for the resignation of the Iraqi government that was appointed by the occupation."

He said during the interview, which the channel said was conducted in the southern city of Najaf, the "people reject the government and therefore I should also reject it since I speak on their behalf."

Al-Sadr appeared in good condition despite 10 days of fierce clashes between his al-Mehdi militia and the Iraqi and U.S. forces in Najaf, a city holy to Shiites. He had a white bandage wrapped around his right wrist.

Al-Jazeera said the interview was conducted before the Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie declared negotiations with al-Sadr to end the fighting in Najaf had failed.

Al-Sadr accused the government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi of imitating former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, saying "they curse Saddam and do what he did, and much worse."

The Shiite leader, who called for the withdrawal of the occupation forces from Iraq, said the Iraqi people had found no freedom and no democracy with the occupation.