Sadrists petition against U.S.-Iraqi pact

BAGHDAD, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The Sadrist Movement in the Iraqi Parliament said it has filed a petition in federal court against the passage of the U.S.-Iraqi security pact.

There were 149 members from the 198 lawmakers present at the Thursday session who voted in favor of an agreement to replace the U.N. mandate for Iraq, which expires at the end of December. There are 275 members of the Iraqi Parliament.

Fawzi Akram Tarzi, a lawmaker with the bloc loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, told Iraqi media the party was lodging a formal complaint in line with constitutional provisions, the Iranian Press TV said.

"The procedure was not constitutional, and the pact was ratified before all provisions of the agreement were read out (in Parliament)," the lawmaker said.

The Sadrist bloc, which holds 30 seats in the Iraqi Parliament, voted in opposition to the measure, which calls for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq no later than Dec. 31, 2011.

"The Sadrists would not cede their national principles and would continue to seek the independence and full sovereignty of Iraq," Tarzi said.

The withdrawal agreement still needs ratification from the three-member presidency council in Iraq before going to a public referendum July 30.