Sadr bloc in boycott amid violence

BAGHDAD, March 25 (UPI) -- The head of Moqtada Sadr's political party said Tuesday the bloc would boycott legislative meetings until Iraqi forces halted operations against them.

"The Sadrist bloc decided to suspend its participation in the Parliament's sessions until the end of operations targeting Sadrists," Nassar al-Rubaie told Voices of Iraq.

A statement from Sadr's offices in Baghdad Sunday called for an open-ended display of civil disobedience in protest of the Iraqi government's detention of Sadrists as well as a series of other demands.

Ahmad al-Masoudi with the Sadrist Movement Tuesday said the bloc boycotted legislative sessions "as a sign of protest against targeting civilians and arresting … Sadrists throughout Iraq."

Mazen al-Saadi with the Sadrists in the eastern Baghdad suburb of Karkh said protests would start in Baghdad and other regions in Iraq and warned of "other options" if the Iraqi government failed to meet the bloc's demands, VOI said.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki addressed citizens in Basra in a televised broadcast vowing to restore order there as forces loyal to Moqtada Sadr, the Mahdi Army, engaged Iraqi forces in fierce battles that erupted overnight.

Maliki said "the federal government and in accordance with its obligations to support the local government in Basra is firmly resolved to restore security and stability and to impose law in the city."

Medical officials in Basra told VOI Tuesday that it counted 18 deaths, including three Iraqi police officers, in the latest violence there.

"Since Monday at midnight until Tuesday afternoon, Basra province's hospitals received more than 15 civilian bodies, while 100 other civilians were admitted for treatment of their wounds," health officials said.