Sadr reacts to U.S. troop deadline

BAGHDAD, July 1 (UPI) -- Sadrist lawmakers called on Iraqi authorities to extend the U.S. withdrawal to all military units, including intelligence agencies and other security forces.

U.S. combat forces left Iraqi cities and villages Tuesday under the terms of a bilateral security agreement reached with Baghdad last year.

The reaction to the withdrawal was mixed, with some expressing pride over the remarkable achievement, while others cited concerns over the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces as well as lingering political disputes.

Salah al-Obeidi, the spokesman for anti-American cleric Moqtada Sadr, read a statement from the Shiite leader saying the Iraqi government was not serious enough about the U.S. drawdown, saying Americans could still continue their foreign occupation of Iraq, the Voices of Iraq news agency reports.

"The Iraqi government should be clear and honest with its people, so that people would deal with it in the same way after the real withdrawal," the spokesman said.

He also warned American troops to keep their distance from Iraqi affairs, saying U.S. forces should not intervene in "any Iraqi issue."

The Tuesday deadline was the first step in a gradual drawdown of American forces from Iraq. The last U.S. troops are scheduled to leave Iraq by the end of 2011, though Iraqis vote on the security agreement during national elections in January, putting any definitive timetable in question.