Sadrists have no plans to return to gov't

TEHRAN, July 18 (UPI) -- The Sadrist Movement of cleric Moqtada Sadr said it wants no connection with the Iraqi government and has no plans to return to Parliament, a spokesman said.

Saleh al-Obeidi, the spokesman for the anti-American Shiite cleric, said in an interview with Iranian Press TV the chances of the Sadrist Movement returning to the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were slim.

The Sadrist Movement withdrew from the Maliki government in 2007 over a series of political disputes concerning U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Obeidi said the current Iraqi government has "a certain agenda" that is "very near" to the objectives of Washington, adding U.S. strategists and policymakers in Iraq have made too many mistakes and pursued the wrong path in the country.

The spokesman said the Iraqi people have learned to live with the mistakes in Iraq for so long that they believe now it is the correct course of action.

The political climate in Iraq is much too "complicated" for the party to return to a government stained by its past mistakes, Obeidi said.

The party strongly opposes the long-term security contract for Iraq, which is set to replace the current U.N. mandate there, an agreement many opposition parties in Iraq consider a form of "slavery," Press TV said.

Sadr is believed to be in the Iranian holy city of Qom working on his clerical studies.