Top Iraq spokesman applauds Sadr

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- The Iraqi government's top spokesman applauded cleric Moqtada Sadr's call to calm his militia and urged all violence from any sect to stop.

Ali al-Dabbagh said on the sidelines of an Iraq oil conference the call from the leader of the Sadr Movement and Jaysh al-Mahdi militia is a "welcome" move by one of many sides blamed for fanning sectarian violence in Iraq.

“We welcome the declaration of Mr. Sadr, Mr. Moqtada. We feel this will lift any coverage for JAM to do anything," Dabbagh said at the Iraq Oil, Gas, Petrochemicals and Electricity summit, organized by the London-based Iraq Development Program.

The relationship between Sadr and the government has taken a rough turn. Once a supporter of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Sadr has withdrawn Cabinet members and boycotted Parliament over complains Maliki, from a rival Shiite party, Dawa, isn't doing enough to stem Sunni violence. Rouge elements of Sadr's militia are blamed for some violence. Sadr, however, after the recent violence in the Holy City of Karbala, announced a six-month cease-fire.

"And at the same time the government should take all the steps needed to implement the rule of the law on anyone, independent of where he is from," Dabbagh said. "This will give a great chance to the government to implement the rule of law on everyone, at the same time we do ask the others to have the same declaration and the most important thing to take the practical step to stop the threat to Iraqis and multinational forces.”

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Ben Lando, UPI Energy Editor